Imprisoned Civilians
by O.o.O.Flame Belt.O.o.O
Summary: The last country Gray imagined visiting or thinking of, is the republic of Guinea, let alone acquiring its citizenship. Japanese residents with sufficient mental health like him wouldn't think this way. All, except for one. M/M romance, Yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Notes:**

 **Longer Summary:** Gray Fullbuster is an electrical engineer with a promising future. Although he works hard at his day job, he works even stronger towards burying his feelings and dulling his heart. One day, Gray gets tangled in an incident that salvages the living pieces in his chest and lights it back with the warmth it deserves.

 **Warnings:** Swearing. Haven't been keeping up with the Anime. Relationships in this fic are based on my imagination, no Anime logic. Do you see something that looks weird because of the anime's latest season or the season before? I implore you, don't spoil it for me.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi. That's right. I didn't include it in the warnings because if you're here, I know why. Definitely, _not_ for the heterosexual OR friendship drama. This is a Gratsu fanfic.

 **World:** Anime, Modern AU

 **Story Cover Art:** A round of applause for Astrovique, the fantastic talented artist. Fantastic to work with too. Rare professionalism. You can find Astrovique at (Deviant Art, Instagram, tumbler).

 **Beta Reader:** enjoys literature. Also known as, hawk-eye. Thank you for supporting me, for encouraging me to write this to the end, and for listening to my whining all those years.

 **Expected number of chapters:** 28 Chapters. More or less.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O ** **.o.**** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** O **n** e **O **.**** o ** **.** O**

* * *

 **Kyoto, Japan – 10:00AM – Naunheimer Consolidated**

"You're a sad human being!"

 _'News flash? I don't think so.'_

When he sent that email, Gray didn't foresee himself snatched by the collar or cornered against the pantry's cold refrigerator.

"You won't get away with this, understand?"

Wow, all that rage. _Oh no_ , his legs shivered.

"Always." Gray's muscles relaxed as if he observed the young dawn's purple rays, "Occasionally, human beings, sad ones included, will receive constructive and they have to accept it, handling it with grace and tact instead of being douchebags."

The clamp around his throat tightened, and the acidic breath of Erik disgusted him, "You know damn well it wasn't a constructive criticism I received. You compiled your shitty hatred and jealousy into one filthy document! You could have discussed it with me, but nooooo." He pressed until Gray's spine stuck against the refrigerator.

"Let him go at once."

Like a loyal dog, Erik did as he was told, bowing to show respect towards the managing director. Gildarts Clive, you are the man. The right man, the right time.

"You two. My office, now."

"Yes." Erik said.

"Can I make a cup of coffee? Before this nice man came, I was gonna make one…"

Gildarts's face was a clean slate, void of emotion. His respectful colleague's purple eyes stared at him as if he had performed witchcraft. As far as Gray understood, there was nothing wrong with desiring a cup of Coffee.

"Erik-kun, after you."

"Y-yes."

He breathed long when they left. Such a prick that guy was.

"Are you a-alright?"

He pressed the coffee machine's buttons. Despite the clawing irritation, he offered a kind smile and exited his sadistic character for a minute.

Amazing, big, and low tits aside, Kinana was a good girl. She was innocent, and she shouldn't like that _prick_. Why? It wasn't right.

"I'm good," He calmed Kinana, "What did I tell you?"

Her shoulders slumped, "That… it was bound to happen someday?"

"There we go. I didn't expect your boyfriend to manhandle me though."

"He's not my boyfriend!"

He likes Kinana because of the resemblance they shared. She feared exposing her feelings to the prick because of social disapproval. Put an office coffee girl (maid) with a board member's son and watch how their romance would be frowned upon.

That's what she thought. She never broke past that fear. Gray didn't too, so he can't be all judgmental now, can he?

Come on, Kinana had a shot. She was a beautiful girl that males fantasized about in the office, including him, but that was once. And it wasn't because he was a pervert, but because of his dick's normal reaction to when her purple bra once showed under a tight dress shirt.

Gray didn't have a shot, especially, with the kind of gender he has. Hold up, how did he think they shared a resemblance again?

"Oh Prince Erik! Your princess will wait for you!"

She winced and jabbed him with the tray, "It was a mistake to open up to you!"

"He didn't punch me in the face because you were watching, and you're the only one he's decent with, soooo? Think about it, cool?" God, he hated himself. Why should Gray grant a prick like Erik happiness? For god's sake, prick and Erik rhyme. Prick and Erik. Erik the Prick.

For her, Gray always reserved a smile from his limited amount per day. Coffee mug in hand, he decided it was time to face the music. On his way, he saw Erik back on his desk typing away. He groaned, then walked to the secretary who communicated with Gildarts, and sent Gray in.

He blew softly on the coffee before sipping from it under Gildarts's cold, scrutinizing blue eyes.

"You crucified the guy via mail. Let's try to reason that."

Gildarts Clive was a mountain. Naunheimer Consolidated's billions flowed because of his efforts. When people dared to look him in the eye, inspiration and awe hit them. Not only that, he was loved as a leader, and he earned Gray's utmost respect.

He was why Gray worked for the company among shitty superiors. His goal was to reach a position where he could learn from the impeccable Gildarts Clive.

In other words, he should give a damn about Gildarts Clive when his tone was tetchy. Sadly, at that moment, Gray didn't find it in himself to care. Not about Gildarts Clive or even the president of Japan. The strong coffee flavor seeped into his soul and calmed his nerves.

"Hmm. I've spent two consecutive weeks sleeping at work to get my job done, then it was fuc—corrupted, because he didn't know how to open the fuc—file the correct way. Mind you, this isn't the first time he's done this. I email people stating something, he emails another stating something else, stupefying me countless times ever since I was employed. I'd provide you with those mails if I didn't know your time is valuable. In short, he's a dick. And I'm sorry, but he had it coming."

Gildarts nodded ironically.

"And my mail wasn't that offensive. It stated facts, supported by evidence, that's all." Ahhhh, Coffee tasted delicious after bashing pricks.

Although his managing director stung him with a mini-glare, Gray wasn't threatened, "If he gave you a hard time, why didn't you speak to him like an adult? Confrontations scare you, kiddo?"

Confrontations scare who?

He did his best and contained the century's loudest grunt.

"He thinks I'm jealous of him, and that I hate him for no reason. How can you 'confront' a guy with his mindset?"

"Do you hate him?"

"He's invisible. Not worth the effort of my hatred cells."

"Gray." Gildarts stopped him with his finger, "You're what they say, hard work that beats talent. You have proved yourself, and you have earned your position."

"Flattering-"

"-Shush."

Ok. Can't argue with that.

"One word. Emotional **intelligence**."

Gray coughed, "Those are two words."

"Shush."

Ok. Coffee doesn't taste delicious anymore.

"Kid, I won't be wasting my time like this unless I care. You're a walking robot, and it's not right. Politics at work are devastating and one day you'll regret not learning how to handle them now. You'll be surprised knowing the number of hard-working people who are undermined because of their narrow vision. And you're right, he's a dick."

Bla, bla, bla, blaaaaa. Gray was an orphan and thank god for that. Imagine if he had a father.

"Thanks for agreeing."

"If you can't deal with that, speak to your department's head, seek advice. That email had everyone on cc, and has grave repercussions; ones that could affect your image—do you have a girlfriend?"

Gray's glasses frame slid down on his nose, "With all respect, what does that have to do with anything?"

"I'll tell you." Gildarts's finger brushed over his long burgundy tie and leaned forward, "When your life is work-based, you build everything around it, you get aggressive and violent, and I have tried that and failed. Having someone in your life-which you don't-makes it way easier. Because then, your life is centered somewhere else."

"I don't care and I regret nothing."

Gildarts shook his head, adjusting his back on the chair, "Kiddo, get outta my office, behave, and stop wasting my time. I don't want to witness today's nonsense again, am I understood?"

"Why am I the bad guy?"

Gildarts sighed, "God, I hope I'm clear."

Erik bullied him, not the other way around, why were the grenades being thrown at him?

"And get a freaking girlfriend."

Girlfriend his foot. Relationships suck. Too much emotional investment on nothing but an eventual heart break.

He put his mug aside in favor of taking a bite from his cheddar cheese sandwich. Adjusting his glasses, he re-read his long smart fact-based sentences, joy overtaking him.

Fine, Gildarts was correct. He rigidified himself. Work hard, bash pricks, meet with deadlines. That's all he has left. How else can he fill the widening black hole in his chest?

When he reached for his mug, he paused, scanning the simple black and brown writing on it.

 **Summer.**

 **Drinks get colder.**

 **Nights get longer.**

 **Life gets better.**

They sunk his heart, always. His summer and sun was a long time gone.

 _'Deadlines. Work. Focus.'_

Because of the prick, he must start over and triple his working speed with a help of a miracle.

 _'God, help me not to shoot him.'_

His phone vibrated, and people stared at him like getting a phone call was so awesome nowadays.

"Hello, Gray is speaking."

 _"Hello. We're from the NIA."_

Hold up. NIA? What the fuck _was_ the NIA? Gray did a quick mental search, but big question marks blocked him, thus, his answer lagged on the serious-straight-to business lady.

"Cool, what's-"

 _"-We've got your friend in custody for using a forged Guinean passport while exiting Japan from Narita's international airport. Usually, we'll contact a guardian; however, you were number one emergency contact."_

"…"

The hair on his neck stood. That statement fought his skull to enter his brain with ease, so instead of sarcasm, he said the logical thing, "I think you have got the wrong number."

Obviously, NIA was an airport security heroic league, and he wasn't involving himself in a crazy mix-up. He is a great Japanese citizen who doesn't have friends forging passports for a hobby.

God, what's up with this bright morning?

 _"Gray Fullbuster? Male. Age 24, working in Naunheimer Industries Consolidated as a junior electrical engineer. Is that about right?"_

Shit was getting **real**. Yes to all those, what the hell?

So who was the motherfucker who used his number as an emer-

 _"We believe your friend Natsu Dragneel is guilty. We're conducting our investigation, and we're not releasing him before we go through his papers."_

-Gency contact.

Natsu with a Guinean Passport? Like from the Republic of Guinea?

"Natsu Dragneel?!" Gray knocked his coffee cup when he jerked on his feet. Good luck cleaning that. "There's a mishap, Natsu is incapable of-"

 _"-At any rate, he's not allowed to contact anyone outside the airport. If his papers are clean, he will be released without fees, however, if there is a slight possibility it's forged, the penalty will be seven years."_

"Bail?"

 _"Not possible."_

"Ok, so no one can see him?"

 _"Not now, no sir."_

The hot liquid burned his fingers as he wiped it, just as that name did his heart. By the time he asked the lady for more information and hung up, his face decolorized in the time his managing director passed.

"Kiddo, my office, now."

* * *

"What's up with you today?"

Gray lost speech. They tell him Natsu is a national security issue and Gray's at the managing director's office for the second time.

So what's happening today? Either someone was pranking him, or he was dreaming.

"Nothing." It came out hoarse.

Natsu. Shit, Natsu?

"You look like you were electrocuted. Bad phone call?"

"Still trying to understand…"

"Hmm."

"I have to go, it's urgent." Gray braced himself for rejection since the deadline was a week away, "Super urgent."

"What's happening kiddo?"

He removed his glasses, and opened his phone, pulled up a picture from the gallery, and showed it to Gildarts, "My friend was flying from Narita's airport towards Italy when he was arrested because he has a freaking Guinean passport."

Employees outside stared at the glass cubicle, crept out by the loudness of Director Gildarts's laughter.

Natsu, the boy with the pink hair and green eyes, was a Guinean. Go joke with someone else.

"That's so messed up." Gildarts did his best stifling his stream of laughter, "What are you capable of though? Your leaving is meaningless unless you have a plan."

"I don't know... but I have to."

The case's facts were so ridiculous that he wanted to roll on the ground laughing (or crying), and curse Natsu to death.

Gildarts cleared his throat, "I know a guy who owes me big time. With his help, no lawyer will be needed. Why don't we give it a shot?"

Gray shifted to an alerted posture. Why on earth would Gildarts help him? It has to be a trap. And think about it, when your merciless director offers you help, it's not only creepy, it's suspicious and creepy.

"Appreciate that, but—I'd manage on my own, I know he's not the forging passports type of guy. There has to be a serious misunderstanding."

Gildarts's fingers were a steeple over his clean white desk, "You're smart, this is tricky, and you know you can't manage it on your own. Why won't you take my help? Consider it an order. Or maybe a gift for your appreciated efforts with us so far."

"I…"

Questions overloaded Gray. The way Gildarts expressed himself, how he sounded genuine. It was so scary to the point he wanted to laugh. That man did nothing but drain his life energy since he joined in. How-what-

"Ok? Alright? Great. Let me make the call, go to the HR and tell them you're leaving today. It will be deducted from your annual leave days, but it's a cheap price, correct?"

"Ah…" Gray was staggered, "Of course."

"So when you head down to Narita's airport, I'll update you, and let's hope you get your friend out before tomorrow."

* * *

The name 'Natsu' scared him.

It replaced the dying autumn in Gray with green spring. Covered his shivering heart with a blanket of warmth, ensuring its safety. And he hated it because it deceived his fool heart.

His brain instructed him to pretend as if he never got the call, that Natsu would manage, but his warming heart hauled him in the wrong direction.

When will he learn his lesson? As much as this feeling was the best, it was the worst when it's lost.

Yet, here we are. Towards the wrong direction we march.

Gildarts squeezed Natsu's bio and other important information from Gray to get on exonerating his friend from an inane crime.

Talk about 'dumbfounded'.

Flying to Narita was his best option since he refused stretching the trip to five hours. No doubt, his manipulative son of a bitch heart chose the 'smart' decision for him. Why wait for a train when you can fly? If possible, Gray would transform into fucking superman and be there in an instant.

Fuck. What was he doing?

While waiting in line for the bus to Osaka's Itami Airport, the burden of the expenses struck. Flight tickets, possibly bail money. Thank humanity for creating Bronze/silver/motherfucking awesome all colors credit cards.

He'll make Natsu pay as soon as he comes out of NIA.

NIA…

Narita International Airport. _'Bitch so weird… must I know every little fucking abbreviation in Japan?!'_

Gray praised himself for figuring it out. Kids wailing here, kids ganging up there, kids everywhere. Why the hell were elementary school kids moving out of the damn district? Annoying brats should stay in their homes sucking on lollipops. Field trips could kiss his ass.

More than anything, Gray hated spontaneous actions, which is what this trip stood for. No planning, no logic. Like a mad man, he strode to the nearest terminal, booking a ticket for the nearest flight possible to Narita.

Gildarts called him after he booked the ticket, he paused before answering, hands clammy, throat dry.

"Sir?"

 _"Kiddo, where're you?"_

Please, who's the kid now? "Itami Airport."

 _"Great. From my understanding, that Natsu you're thinking innocent, is not. Yes, he was in Guinea for the past two years, but that doesn't mean he has the rights to obtain citizenship. Someone forged the passport for him, but they did sloppy work, thus, the current predicament."_

"Is there a possibility that's not true?"

 _"I don't know, kiddo. I was gonna act on it anyway, but I wanted you to know first."_

"Thanks. I'm sorry you had to be involved."

 _"-get down to Narita without high blood pressure, and I won't have a problem."_

If anyone in this world cared, Gray fought the urge to scream in the airport.

Natsu Dragneel's logic goes beyond any other human being. Why did he think of getting the fucking Guinean passport when he was a fucking Japanese?

For fuck's sake, Natsu.

He used the hour and a half left for the next flight to NIA asking himself questions he needed answers for.

What pushed Natsu Dragneel to visit Guinea in the first place? Why the arbitrary decision? Yeah, it explained the motherfucker's disappearance for the past two years. And when he showed up, he's a national security issue and a gigantic pain in the butt.

That's the style of Natsu Dragneel, excellent.

* * *

 **Narita, Japan – 4:30PM – Narita International Airport (NIA)**

He passed by at least a _hundred_ blue and orange sign boards and asked a _million_ officers about the safety regulation unit's location. And as a civilian he _had_ to know the safety regulation unit was part of aviation security. Where was he when they issued the org-chart?! Bitch, he had to be aware.

Families cuddled, friends bickered, fuck, all of Japan was on vacation. Why did he travel districts for a friend in need and not for hot springs? Explain.

He closed in on the area where he _thought_ aviation security existed and asked about a lady called 'Erza Scarlet', the safety regulation unit manager.

Erza Scarlet's name on his tongue whipped a few heads in his direction. Was she that great? Or was she that horrible?

They let him in a large office with white fluorescent lights and dark blue visitor chairs. The manager's analyzing cinnamon orbs punched him in the gut and forced respect upon him, regardless of the gender. Not that he's a sexist.

She had Natsu's file in her hand, legs crossed superiorly.

 _'Let's behave baby.'_

"Fullbuster-san, it's not possible to share sensitive information. You're not a relative, a guardian, or family. In fact, you shouldn't be here." Her contempt sliced him. Shame, she was beautiful, there goes his chance with someone decent and with huge breasts, thank you Natsu.

A tall blonde fellow walked in the room, the total opposite of what Erza Scarlet is. He smiled, and shook Gray's hand as if they were long-lost friends, "You're Gray Fullbuster, right? Hibiki Lates, nice to meet you."

"Same here." Who the hell was that guy anyways?

"Gildarts called me."

"Oh…" That was the guy? "I appreciate it."

"Erza-chan, you can't pick on this guy. Can you fill me in first?"

Erza Scarlet had what they called squeeze-worthy breasts. When her waist rotated to scoff at Hibiki Lates for his rude interference, her breasts bounced through the white blouse, and fuck, that trip was so worth it.

He took a while to focus on Gildarts's messenger. Despite the easy going attitude, the blonde's existence radiated with confidence. He expected her to reveal 'sensitive information' in front of Gray.

Dude gotta be in a position higher than her.

"It's so simple,"Erza shrugged, "We're in a country where dual citizenship is difficult, if not impossible. Not only that. Natsu came from Guinea, and is travelling from Japan to Italy, which is weird. He could have flown from Guinea to Italy, makes more sense."

"Could be something personal." Hibiki commented.

"Could be. Could not. We need a formal paper attested from the republic of Guinea proving Natsu is a Guinean citizen, and even then it's absurd, we don't tolerate dual citizenship, so we need to know if it's authorized from here too."

 _'Shit.'_ A heavy rock fell in his gut.

"No one may visit or talk to him if he's in our custody, not even his guardian."

Hibiki Lates nodded and his raised finger shushed Gray.

"Great, so what was done so far?"

"We contacted the Guinean embassy, it would take minimum three hours to get the paper, or maximum a week OR a month. Depends. Bail is unacceptable, not until we get the paper or any substantial evidence."

"So time difference and all that jazz. It's not easy, nor fast I believe." Hibiki's fingers tapped on the table.

"Exactly."

"Great, thanks for the info. Let's go Gray. Sorry to interrupt, manager."

Gray didn't know if it was a good thing to cut the conversation on miss booby. He was slow at standing up and digesting the situation.

"Ah…"

The girl's breasts did a noticeable bounce when she jerked to her feet. Her throat contained a growl that if anything, pulled a dirty image from his sub-consciousness.

"Natsu Dragneel has pink hair, green eyes, a body built that shows luxury in life. His dad works in Austria. Over my dead body he's a Guinean civilian. That passport is forged, it has to be nothing else. I'd appreciate it if no one interferes in my investigation."

The blonde guy maintained a confident eye-contact with Erza Scarlet, and Gray commended his prowess.

"Let's go, Gray."

* * *

"Let's forget what Erza-chan said for a moment, ok? Possibility 1, your friend may have a forged passport. Possibility 2, the Guinean government will take ages 'till they provide the attested paper, and we know that might not happen because of possibility 1, correct?"

The elevator dinged, and Gray followed the blonde.

"Didn't you say we should forget?" The Information collection squished his head, keeping up with the blonde was a chore, "There has to be something we can do, right? Should I-"

"You can't, I can. We have to get the paper, or know if there's no paper. I have a contact that will help us."

"How long will it take?"

"Is it six now? Let's say six more hours."

Gray halted, and so did the blonde who questioned the sudden move with a blink.

"The longer he stays in there, the worst this is gonna be."

"Hold your horses right there…" Hibiki walked to him, "That's not my call. My friend lives in NYC, and it's four in the morning there. He'll be eating his breakfast when we're tucked in bed. Add to that his communication time with the Guinean embassy." Hibiki chuckled, "It's a simple case, but it demands time, so, patience."

Gray knew in his heart (and mind), this case would take a hell of a lot of time, money, effort, and communication until it's resolved. But, Natsu was in this building. He was a paper away from seeing him, making sure he's okay.

He apologized for the impulsiveness, but the guy who was kind enough to give a shit dismissed it.

"Come with me."

Hibiki Lates dropped him at the airport's shopping venue, which wasn't accessible to the public. That included restaurants and other provided facilities that will make his sojourn for the next six hours less painful, and Gray appreciated it more than he thought he would.

Also, he escorted Gray to the VIP lounge to use as he pleases. They shared contact details before Hibiki left to resume his own duties.

The generous treatment embarrassed Gray. He was indebted to Gildarts Clive, the one man he didn't appreciate owing.

Just as he was getting comfy on the leather seat, his pocket vibrated.

 _'Shit…'_

 _"How many times do I have to call until you freaking pick up?! Or is it the new trend you wanna show you're a real asshole?"_

"Not really. I have valid reasons."

His mother wasn't the most understanding neither the most patient sometimes.

 _"Gray, this better be good. Your brother is here, dinner's done, and you have promised you'd leave work earlier for this! It's six thirty now!"_

"Ah… Yeah, about that. I'm not in Kyoto…"

 _"Pardon? Stop bullshitting ok? Gray, the fucking Yakisoba and Teriyaki Salmon you asked for are turning stone cold. People are hungry."_

Fuck, he could smell the Yakisoba and even start to taste it. His mom did him a favor by accepting his request and offering a meal which wasn't convenient store or sloppy handmade food. Cause who LOVES cooking for themselves?

Mannn, his grand dinner, his yakisoba. Bummer.

"Ur, I'm sorry I didn't contact you earlier. Stuff happened and I'm in Narita's International airport."

 _"God, are you ok? What happened? You sound stressed."_

"Natsu is in NIA, and involved in a goddamn passport forgery case."

 _"THE FUCK IS NIA?! Natsu! Shit… hold on a minute, did you say Natsu?!"_

"Yeah. Natsu."

 _"Back up, Back up. What's happening? Tell me everything, don't miss a detail!"_

Gray breathed, "Why not? I've got six hours to kill."

 _"What are you talking about? I'm so lost now."_

"You asked for the details right?" Gray leaned backwards, the leather sofa easing his stressed back, "Bear with it then."

* * *

 _"… This is so messed up. So when are you coming back? What's your plan?"_

"I wait for Hibiki's contact."

 _"Hohoho. So your wife is back."_

"Your wife my foot." If she thought she would elicit a reaction, she was wrong.

 _"Do you want your brother to come?"_

"No, no, no. You guys have dinner, I'm managing. I need downtime to brainstorm different solutions to make this work."

His mother sighed. She was an inch away from screaming in his ear for abandoning her efforts with dinner, and travelling to another district without contact, but she saved it. She was sweet and loving, and didn't wish to stress him further.

When he gets back, she's gonna rape him. He knew it. There was nowhere on earth he could hide to prevent that tragedy.

 _"Take care of yourself and your wife. Just in case, do I search for a lawyer? You rejected my advice too…"_

Those silly 'wife' comments were just that. Silly. You're better than that, Gray.

"Maybe."

 _"Did you have lunch?"_

"Hey. I'm fine. Trust me. Just drowsy."

 _"Okay, I'm gonna let you go. Call me if anything happens, and update us often, agreed?"_

"Sure."

* * *

Hibiki Lates carried an elegant smile when he invited him for a late dinner meal.

With the third grade drama happening in his life, he lacked the appetite, but his stomach needed feeding. Since the cup of coffee and half a cheese sandwich in the morning, he hadn't eaten as he invaded the internet, searching for a way out.

Turns out, google can't solve this one. And he was a fool thinking it could.

The Marble café wasn't a full-fledged restaurant, but it served decent fresh meals.

Hibiki probed Gray and Natsu's relationship subject because no one will abandon their work and fly over multiple districts for another person unless they were as important as a family member. Gray's smile dropped, his appetite vanishing.

What were they indeed?

He stated they were good friends and left it at that.

The blonde didn't pester him with other related questions, getting the hint, and Gray was thankful for it.

In return, Hibiki Lates intrigued him and stirred his interest. If a woman as intimidating as Erza booby Scarlet paid him respect, then his role and authority must be crucial and higher than airport security. Were these the people Gildarts knew? There was more to his managing director than what meets the eye, and a glimpse of it was enough.

Better not venture into scary territories.

Hibiki offered Gray a stay in the adjacent hotel since it wasn't confirmed when his contact would reveal helpful details. A bubble of disappointment aroused within. He wanted to reach the bottom of it and free his friend at the earliest.

At 10:30PM, Gray entered his room in the Glacier hotel. After he had set the alarm for 2:30AM, he threw himself on the soft clean bed, wasted. He needed a shower, and a change of clothes, but shopping for new clothes? What a pain. Maybe if it ended soon, he wouldn't have to.

Gray removed his glasses, scratching where it's marking on his nose itched. Over the years, his eyesight degraded, all thanks to his comfortable working schedule. His glasses served two purposes, computer screen protection and an optical aid. Sleep conquered his other desires, and although his eyes shut, Natsu's image never left him.

His nose fantasized about the vanilla, fresh sea breeze scent of his long-lost friend, and messed him up all over again.

And he thought he was recovering. That he was getting better.

What bullshit.

* * *

Gray jolted from the bed to answer his vibrating phone.

"Y-Yeah?"

 _"Finally. My subordinate called you three times."_

Fuck, Gildarts? Why?

"Sir, I'm… sorry—what time is it?"

 _"I hope you weren't screwing around with any of the hot girls—I wouldn't blame you if you did."_

"No sir-"

 _"So was it screwing with one of the guys?!"_

"What the…"

 _"I'm just pulling your leg. Loosen up once in a while."_

"Umm…" Sleep increased the weight of his body on the bed, and he struggled against dozing, "What did I miss…?"

 _"You have to call Hibiki Lates. WAKE UP SUNSHINE. I'll see you later."_

Gildarts hung up, and his phone blinked in anger with the number of calls he missed coming from Hibiki. The trip's fatigue lost him in deep slumber he heard no alarm going off. He forced himself to hop off the bed, wash his face, and be awake for Hibiki Lates's brief.

This better be good, Natsu.

 _"Hibiki Lates, speaking?"_

"Hello. This is Gray."

 _"Oh hey! Calling early?"_

"I'm sorry, I slept like I dunno—what did I miss?"

 _"No need to apologize, I slept through the alarm myself. Woke up at four like crazy. You didn't miss much. My friend hasn't been able to reach the Guinean embassy until now, that's the bad news…"_

Gray sighed, "Are there any good news?"

 _"YES!"_

"What's that?" There couldn't be possibly-

 _"I arranged a meeting with your friend. You'd have a limited time, you two alone, and you might get something useful out of him to help us with the current predicament."_

"But… how? She said that-"

 _"—I told you I'm awesome. Now please, get down here fast before Erza changes her mind."_

Gray hung up, his stupid heart skipping.

* * *

 **Second Day**

 **Narita, Japan – 6:45AM – Narita International Airport (NIA)**

* * *

Gildarts's abrupt call drilled through Gray's head.

At mornings, Gray's sensory and cognitive system lagged. If someone said good morning, he would answer with silence, but, he would think _'Fuck mornings'_. And then awkward.

That kind of thing isn't curable.

For this one occasion, he _greeted_ Hibiki Lates, and fuck, the wonders excitement achieved in people.

"The minute your time is over, it is over. Trust me… we don't want to upset Erza more than she already is. I went through the trouble of buying a fucking strawberry cake topped with strawberry frosting and has a double layer of cream and strawberry jam; it costs 60,000¥ so don't screw this up."

"Mhmmm."

"You're not a morning person, are you now?"

"Mhmmm." Gray shook his head as in _No, definitely not. Not me. Not a morning person_.

The corridor they walked in led to a spacious room judging by the double door entrance. A conference room? Gray heard Hibiki's instructions, eyes flickering between the blonde and room's number.

Can he jump past Hibiki Lates? Please, say yes.

"He's cuffed. Security's outside. Trust me, don't trust **him**. We don't know if he's innocent, and I don't want you to turn a hostage today. I've asked them to shut the CCTV surveillance, but no luck. I pushed further, and they compromised and permitted shutting off sound, so we'll see a video of you two."

"Mhmmm."

"And if it goes wrong, I want you to know we got your back."

"…"

"That… and I am authorized to shoot without asking questions." The young man smiled.

That woke Gray up, thank you. Natsu wouldn't harm him. Or would he? Ok, Gray expected a punch or two because of what he did, not terrorism.

"Alright, here we go."

Hibiki opened the big wooden double door. Gray's heart picked up the speed it left off after hearing he could see Natsu.

And just like that, he saw him. Without mental preparation, no planned speech, or the expression he should make.

The pink haired youth's smile was silly as he sat on one of the leather seats, gazing at the sky from the large glazed surface of the room with cuffs around his hands. An abundance of daylight glowed Natsu's outline and his weary alligator chartreuse eyes, tingling Gray's nerve endings.

He wore faded jeans and a silly looking red Henley shirt. Suddenly, he was 16 years old Natsu from high school with his stupid innocence and stubborn head.

It blinded Gray.

How much time has passed? Three years? Three damn years he thought he was over the extra heartbeat that played around Natsu's presence, the fluttering tornado roaming in the chest.

Three years… why did his body feel he saw him yesterday?

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

Thank you for reading.

 **Next chapter release date** : Monday, 24th December, 2018.

Hey you, amazing gorgeous Anonymous Guest! If you're gonna review this story, please put a name for yourself so that I can leave you a decent reply. Also, stick with that name for the future chapters. I'm a controlling freak like that, yeah.

Rest of you Fanfiction members... Stay blessed with that awesome embarrassing name you can't share with your family and sometimes, even friends.

Till next time!

Flame-Belt


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O ** **.o.**** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** T **w** o **O **.**** o ** **.** O**

* * *

Natsu's smile fell, movements stilled, and his sandy skin lost its healthy color. That was fine, justifiable. They parted ways long ago, and the reunion instigated mixed feelings. On one hand, it was thrilling, but on the other, how was he supposed to do the whole _I give a shit about you_ stunt, when he showed the contrary before?

With that last step forward, they faced each other. The enormous room smelled like Natsu's vanilla, sea breeze scent, and it was therapeutic. That's why he craved meeting him. He could be stubborn and deny it, but his sincere heart considered Natsu his hot spring, and it bathed happily in it.

But Gray wasn't Natsu's therapy. Because Natsu went from pale to ashen, and he withdrew a step until he flushed his posture against the seat.

"Good god. What—what are you doing here?"

No handshakes, no hugs. Is that what they were now? Rigid strangers? Fuck.

"Hey dude. Lookin' fresh."

Natsu opened his mouth, then closed. Then grunted in response, with no hint of amusement.

"I'm an epic fail at alleviating the mood. Understood."

God, it isn't the time or place to be ridiculous. They took opposite seats, Natsu altering between glancing at Gray and the buildings outside with a tensioned neck. Fuck, it hurt. More than gripping him and fracturing his spine into halves. Natsu has lost the glints of friendship, adoration, rivalry, everything he had shared with Gray.

"How have you been?" More than seeking a genuine answer, Natsu needed a diversion. His tone was distant, considering him a stranger, hating the way Gray stared at him like he was worth millions.

What a shame. Natsu's whole used to light up when Gray was present.

"I should ask you that."

"So now, you give a shit? Interesting." Natsu tapped his foot, his hands intertwining, "And I should go along with it, super."

Gray doesn't find it comfortable to admit to his mistakes, especially if it's Natsu who pointed it out. But this one? Natsu's correct, Gray shouldn't have decided impulsively to see him, even to help. That's naked selfishness.

"Our time's limited, so let's make the most of it."

"But what do you have to do with this?" Straight to the point and forward, that was Natsu. Why didn't he say 'Fuck off', and Gray would fuck off? Why have this shitty conversation to start with? Why hint at stuff and be so fucking diplomatic?

Just say fuck off, dammit.

"Meaning what?"

"I thought… someone else would walk through that door, not you. No offense, but why you? You get what I'm saying right?"

"Sorry I'm not the 'one', no time for that. You—what's up with this Guinean nationality shit?"

"Nationality _shit?_ " His alligator eyes flung a mini-glare.

"Yeah."

Good, he got him mad. Gray can deal with mad Natsu, not indifferent stranger Natsu. Any emotion is ok, even annoyance. It assured him he has what it takes to ruffle the guy's feathers, like always.

"I have a valid Guinean passport. I need some time before the attested paper comes, that's all I can say. If they're super paranoid, it's not my problem." Natsu spoke as if he wasn't in custody overnight. Nothing bothered him.

"Except that it **is** your problem. How can you obtain citizenship when you haven't been living in Guinea for eight years? Using time travel? Stop fucking with the Japanese government. I'll bring you a good lawyer, I promise."

"Hey, hey, hey." Natsu's muscles solidified, tone rising, "Is there any distinction between you and them? I'll save myself the trouble of speaking if there isn't."

"Mr. Fucking Guinean, explain?"

"Not a morning person, yeah?"

"Irrelevant."

"And what's up with those glasses?" Natsu's sardonic chuckle made Gray's eyes roll.

"Still irrelevant."

"It fits you who have lost sight of what matters."

Since when did Natsu Dragneel have business with complex metaphors? You're kidding, right?

His glare collided with Natsu's blazing one.

Chill, chill. He came to help the guy, so inappropriate and childish. Although he targeted helping him, it was hard to accomplish because Natsu judged being an asshole was his best bet.

Natsu's hand tugged at his cuffs, exhaling, "I got the passport a year ago. I'll have the attested paper coming, I'm positive. This will turn out to be one big misunderstanding."

"Why didn't you fly with your Japanese passport? Why the Guinean?"

His comment clicked on Natsu's wrong switch. The boy drew in a huge breath and clenched his fists to suppress himself from launching at Gray.

That's what happens when you're in custody overnight.

"Why do I have to repeat myself? I've told them why. My Passport expired! I planned to visit my dad and stick around for a while, but something came up. I had to travel, and the sole option was using the Guinean valid passport. Last April, there was no fuss, so. Why. Now?"

 _'Dad.'_

Why did he mention it? Why? Gray's skin blackened with an appetite for violence.

His softening gaze towards the pink haired hardened as well as his tone, "How's he? Everything alright?"

"Nah. We're not great these days."

His eyebrows raised, legs crossing, "Hoooo, why?"

"I thought you said we don't have time."

"Sorry. Digression is… you didn't tell me how you got it though. Your conditions don't comply with the books."

"Such faith you have in me." That snort was loud, and that smile was fake as fuck.

"I hope you realize the gravity of the situation. One of the solutions proposed is marrying you to a Guinean naked black boobed lady who'll rape you as soon as you're in her bed."

"Such a racist asshole."

"I'm not. It's funny."

"It's not."

"Cool. But you're lying." Gray shot.

"About what?"

"You're hiding something. I know you."

"You don't. You never did, to be honest." Another loud snort.

"Forget it-"

"Yeah, do that thing where you run away. As always, it's what you're so good at." Natsu leaned, getting into Gray's space for intimidation.

"Stop-"

"-sorry to have you come all the way—it must have been a bother."

"You listen." So smartass aren't you Natsu? Gray leaned in, challenging the motherfucker, "I'm not gonna entertain your crazy wish of going to prison! You can fantasize about it. Either you tell me right now what you're hiding, or I'll figure it out myself."

"Good luck figuring it out. I'm happy you have these supportive feelings. Appreciate it."

"Dumbass, you're unbelievable."

"Kiss my ass."

"So that's how it's gonna be?"

"Hell yeah. Remind me, why are we doing the whole buddy-buddy thing? Don't push yourself to pretend. Walk out that door and never come back like you're used to. Nothing will change. An asshole will forever be an asshole."

Hibiki chose the moment to interrupt.

"Gray, time's up. Let's go."

"Yeah Gray. Time's up, fuck off."

"Is this what I get for helping?"

"You're not helping. Like I said, thanks for coming. I'm confident it'll be ok."

Two men entered, grabbed Natsu from the elbow, and escorted him out. When the clanks of Natsu's cuffs vanished, the void in Gray returned. As if he gives a crap. Natsu's attitude was unacceptable. Their personal issues shouldn't blind him when 'prison' was involved. No one will believe he's the real-deal, a Guinean citizen, even if he swore on his honor thousands of times.

* * *

The leather chair Natsu used earlier maintained the creasing after the boy left. It looked warm… and the invisible particles surrounding it glowed with Natsu's essence and it lingered in his system.

Since they didn't hug, could he hug the chair?

The coffee aroma interrupted his daydreaming. Two huge mugs settled on the conference table while Hibiki Lates's long heavy sigh and joyless brown eyes dropped guilt in Gray's empty stomach.

That shit tasted bad, he needed good food for breakfast.

"You aren't biologically related, for sure." The blonde loosened his beige tie, "He's gotta be your friend or something. The tension flickered the cameras three times and spooked the crap out of us."

"If the paper doesn't show, what's Plan B? What are the other options on the table?"

Gray's obvious negligence to the topic didn't pass unnoticed. But Hibiki Lates wasn't a prying son of a bitch and allowed it. Those brief minutes with Natsu drained him, and he wasn't ready to take anyone into that dark field-trip yet.

"Worst-case scenario we get a lawyer. Using my connections and a little effort, we could negotiate the penalty's nature. But you gotta have confidence in my friend. He's cool."

"But what if it doesn't come? What if that passport is forged?"

"If he's guilty, he's guilty. Justice will be served."

Shit. "He isn't a bad guy, I believe that."

Hibiki paused for a while, thinking and weighing options. "That's not enough. But, let's see."

"I'll talk to HR and have today as a half day or… Shit, I might have to take it all off. Roughly, how many days is it gonna last?"

Hibiki sighed, "Cases like that rarely last long. A week maximum, but this one is different. You're talking coordination between Japan, America, Guinea, three different continents, so it might stretch to a month."

"… Guess I'll be back to Kyoto." His stay in Narita was useless, he wouldn't see Natsu again because their first time went so darn well, "The only hope I have left is your friend. If he can do something, it'll be great."

"Please, he's good. And you gotta look at this text, I forgot about it, here we go."

 _I'm still in contact with the Guinean embassy and something isn't right. After I had sent his details, they said his case is confidential. I have a detective working on it. Will update you as soon as I can._

"Confidential?"

"Yeah, that's weird." Hibiki retrieved his phone, "This one's special. It will take time."

The case wasn't simple, Gray hammered that fact in his head. Natsu didn't simply enter a bar and get arrested for being a minor; he was captured because of official documents forgery and that shit was bad.

"I'm nagging, apologies."

"It's okay. I understand your position, but no need to worry, this isn't the worst I have seen. It's tacky, that's all. I'll update you often. It's the best I can do."

"Please." Gray shook Hibiki's hand, "You have been amazingly helpful, and I don't know what to say."

"You can't thank me, it's not done yet."

Natsu Dragneel, you aren't a terrorist, a drug dealer, a yakuza member, and you sure as hell aren't a secret undercover agent. He's a normal civilian, and no matter what, Gray vowed he'll get him out of the catastrophe he got himself into, and do it the right way this time.

* * *

 **Kyoto, Japan – 2:00PM**

Shower, food, sleep, and anti-stress tablets. Those were crucial after the tedious trip back home that consumed over five hours with Osaka-shin.

Gray refused to show up in his firm like a shit-reeking rat from the sewer system. Instead, he called Gildarts and reported the details of his journey. After the _'Ahs, Ohs, and Okays'_ , Gildarts assured Gray his best man was at it, and worrying was meaningless.

Feels cool having a badass managing director's support. Feels like being a 'VIP'. And he didn't feel like that often.

He also called his mom to request food-making, ready to eat anything, even if it's a rice ball, but she did better: Heartwarming soup, heavenly spaghetti with meatballs, and fresh green salad.

Ooooooh yes.

"Honestly? What a douchebag. You haven't seen the boy in… forever, and that's—what the hell son? What's wrong with you?" She ceased eating after he had told her about their encounter, her dark midnight orbs shooting him a criticizing glare.

"What an amazing best friend you are."

Here we go. She took Natsu's side, rambled on and on about how a low-life he behaved and meh. He was so used to her lectures they didn't faze him anymore.

To avoid the pointless conversation, Gray inhaled the pasta (with the phenomenal basil-flavored sauce), and escaped the dining table, but she pursued him, her bitching filling the corridor leading to the kitchen.

"You insulted him, you doubted his integrity, you accused him of a crime he might have not committed! Tell me, how can anyone apologize for that? No, that's not it. How can anyone be forgiven after that?"

Apologize? Is she insane?

Gray nudged his glasses back with his arm, and continued to wash the plates, tuning her out. Why would he apologize? If Natsu viewed him as the villain, wonderful. Made it easier.

"You aren't listening. Whatever happened between you two, that's in the past. Things are different now, you're different now! You don't have to-"

"-Can you stop? I can't listen to this. I understand you perfectly, so drop it."

"Right-"

"Drop it."

She stomped on his foot and left the kitchen, making irritated _'graaaah!'_ noises. That old bitch. Every time he assumes he's immune to her physical assault power, she proved him wrong.

A tear slid from his left eye.

"He will never change! Ever since I have known him, he'd do shit because his 'gut' said so. A completely irresponsible fool! And when I help, he's flashing me an absurd attitude!"

"He has every right! How do you think he should react to your bullshit?! Hug you?"

… That would've been nice.

"You wish." She crossed her arms and shook her head.

"I said nothing."

"But you wish."

"Please, the last thing I need is his senselessness rubbing off on me."

"You wish."

That bitch won't stop. He cleaned his glasses before he exited the kitchen.

"I've never understood the reason you always defend him. Is he your son?"

"No, he's not. I'm being fair. I'd like to think he's innocent."

He would like thinking so too. Like the whole thing is a nightmare or a misunderstanding as Natsu said.

* * *

Gray checked his phone for time.

 **05:05PM**

Even if he was super ready to give up himself to sleep, the engine in his head won't shut down. How can it shut down, knowing Natsu is arrested? Did Natsu have any sleep? Did he eat? He would definitely need a shower. How are they treating him?

 _'He hates me, shit.'_

Gray was beat staying outside the district for one goddamn day. One day. How long will Natsu endure this? Dumbass may put a strong bitchy front, but maybe he's anxious and scared. Natsu should have his own lawyer though. Gray doesn't know, but there was no mentioning of a lawyer.

Why Natsu?

 _'He freaking hates me.'_

With the aid of caffeine, Gray positioned himself in front of his laptop, found the Guinean embassy's website, and started his own research on how to acquire Guinean citizenship. After vigorous digging that digressed in between, he understood the basics.

None of those matched Natsu's case. He pulled at his hair. How the hell does Natsu have two citizenships? Japanese AND Guinean?

He grabbed his phone and dialed a number.

 _"I was about to call you!"_

"Ah… Hibiki-"

 _"Listen, Natsu has been transferred to Kameda Medical Center!"_

"… Come again?" His fingers clutched at the phone. What was this guy saying?

 _"He has been attacked a while ago—ah, but I was gonna-"_

"-Hold on, hold on, what?"

Hibiki interrupted, _"Gray, hold, ok?"_

Sandbags filled his torn lungs instead of air, and his knees locked. Transferred to a medical center… holy CRAP. Shit! Did he hear those words correct? Moreover, why the fuck didn't he stay in Narita?

 _This isn't the time to hold! Fucking pick up!_

His heart convulsed as he visualized creepy torture-based scenarios which he shortly denied for sanity-keeping purposes. Like what does the word 'attack' entail?

Ur passed by the living room and because his pallid state screamed trouble, she mouthed, _'what's wrong?'_

Everything's wrong. His world was crumbling, his blood turned to ice in his veins.

"Natsu… has been attacked at the airport." He was a frozen trembling shell. Although he said those words, they felt foreign on his tongue. As if he wasn't the one who spoke them.

She walked to the guest room he stayed at, "What happened?!"

"I don't freaking know…"

Her hand was on her forehead, then fell to her hips, then rested on her chest, "Oh dear, oh dear… Who are you talking to? How do they know? What do you mean by attacked?"

Gray's negative head shake answered her. He wanted to know, yet, he didn't want to. What if it was serious? Was he shot or something? Was he alive?

"Shit! Come on, come on." Come on!

Hibiki lifted the curse at the right time, because Gray was having a heart attack while entertaining gory images of his friend drowning in his own coppery blood that Gray could smell. _"Sorry Gray, it's like a damn buzzing bee nest here."_

"Is he alive? Please…"

Ur snatched the phone and raised the volume after switching to speaker mode.

 _"Calm down, he's fine. He's just fine."_

"Oh…" Gray's heart went from triathlon agonized to mini-marathon suffering, "What happened?"

 _"Forty-five minutes ago, he was a target for an abduction scheme. Anyway, I can't chit-chat now, I need to go-"_

"WAIT! Visitors are allowed, right? Which ward is he in?"

 _"Under these circumstances, you can see him, but you can't talk to him, he's still under strict surveillance, especially now that someone has tried to abduct him."_

"Shit… Ah-Ah… Okay-Ah…" Fuck ok, get a grip, "If I get down to Kameda Medical Center, how can I reach him?!"

 _"Gray, I have to go. When you get there, try your luck, but I don't promise I'll be available."_

"Wha-"

He hung up!

Ur grabbed her purple hair filaments and tousled them, groaned, then yelled, "Gather your shit. We're going there right now!"

* * *

 **Narita, Japan – 11:30PM – Narita International Airport (NIA)**

Ur and Gray were sometimes silent on the plane, other times in intense discussions, so when they landed at NIA, their stamina proceeded towards a different terminal.

They used an airport taxi for their destination, the KMC. Gray had forgotten to contact Hibiki when he arrived, which was a stupid move he regretted when they reached. The medical center so was freaking huge that it made him lose his inner compass.

Doctors, nurses, patients, they passed by his frozen figure. The spotless green gowns, the smell of sterilizers, and the shoulder brushes assured him he wasn't dreaming.

Ur was asking for details, following the blood red emergency signage, yanking him around like a helpless doll. Hibiki had mentioned Natsu was fine, but define 'fine'. Was he at the brink of death 'fine'? Was he one organ down 'fine'? Was he tortured-only 'fine'?

Gray wanted to ascertain he was 'fine'. But it was tough.

Ur asked for information and when she had it, she called out to Gray who panicked in the middle of sprinting staff. The receptionist at the emergency counter accessed the recent logs and saw Natsu's ID, but refused sharing information since it was a confidential record.

Gray had no choice but calling Hibiki, hoping he'd answer him.

 _"Have you reached?"_

"They are refusing to provide his room number."

 _"Great, give me the person in charge."_ Just like Gray, Hibiki's voice was strained.

Gray passed his phone to the receptionist who walked aside to converse with Hibiki. After about ten minutes, she sat and typed on the keyboard, and returned Gray's phone.

She said, "I'll have someone guiding you there. Have a seat."

"Thank you." Gray breathed.

 _"Please don't call again today. I'll call when I have the chance."_

Gray understood Hibiki was pressed and running around doing heroic stuff for the country (If he's that big), but for Gray, Natsu was worth a country that swelled inside him. His calls must have been an inane distraction for Hibiki, though he couldn't help it.

Not when it's Natsu.

"Ah-Okay-"

 _"Later."_

Before proceeding to the patient viewing area, Gray imagined a lost eye, a lost limb, dozens of tubes dangling everywhere.

The petrification of Gray's senses stopped as he saw the pink haired sleeping. Limbs together, eyes where they should be. An oxygen mask was on, below Natsu's right eye, a dark blue bruise bloomed, and a bandage wrapped around his neck. His wrists were red, but… that's it.

Fuck. Fuck. He… looks okay. But what about his internal-vital state?

The touch of cold that has hovered over his insides since Hibiki called the first time, dissolved. It left his body so heavy with relief that he almost toppled forward.

Italian mafia came to his mind. Because Natsu was traveling to Italy? So stupid. Natsu, what on earth have you done? And why on earth would anyone kidnap a dumbass?!

Nothing made sense anymore.

Three men dressed in formal clothes invaded the patient viewing area, claimed they were from the Defense Intelligence agency, and kicked Gray and Ur out nicely with their kind consoling words.

They weren't motivated or energized to spend three hours traveling back to Kyoto, not when Natsu was in that state. They needed to understand the situation, and to ensure he was safe. Because where else was he supposed to be safe, if not in the country's airport, surrounded by officers of the law, tight security, AND surveillance?

They stayed in the hotel adjacent to the medical center until they could see where that fucking nonsense goes.

"Those were… the most stressful hours of my life. More than when you tossed my lucky slippers, and I had to go find them in the waste recycling." Ur said.

Gray grunted taking off his jacket and threw his body on the sofa.

"… So what now?" Ur asked, then drank water, "Shouldn't you take my advice already? What more should happen until you do?"

Gray sighed, holding either side of his head.

Ur sat next to him.

"Fuck… dammit. What the fuck?" Gray then took off the glasses and rubbed his tired eyes, "… Crazy. Dude, Natsu's fucked. First the airport, and now this, man—What the fuck? Like… what's next? He's part of some secret ass organization that wants him dead or something? Shit keeps getting confusing and shit… Man, what the fuck?"

Ur squeezed his shoulder to soothe his worries and dread, "Gray, I'm sure that's not the case… I don't think Natsu has got himself into shit like that. The problem is, how do we know?"

"And Hibiki will kick my ass if I call him again, terrific. No choice but to wait for god knows how long-"

"-OR we do what I told you."

"Ur, just… stop it." Gray breathed, "I don't want a repetition of that mistake. This is crazy, but we sort this one ourselves."

"Then get a freaking lawyer." Ur was irritated, "Just a freaking lawyer. Who are you counting on? Your managing director? You barely know the guy to get him involved, and what if he doesn't succeed?"

Gray stood, "I don't know, he… gave me hope. And I know Hibiki has his ways to handle-"

"-If it's about the money, screw it-"

"-It's not about the money. No." Gray put on his glasses, "It was never about the money. From the looks of it, Hibiki is a reliable person. And-"

Natsu's image attacked him. Blood stains were on his cheeks, his neck awful and blue, he was broken, and Natsu doesn't get broken easily. How the hell did that happen? Within security boundaries.

"Gray?" Ur called out, "What?"

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, removing his glasses.

"Put the fucker who did this to him in front of me, and I'll kill him with my two bare hands."

The chuckle he heard pressed on his nerves. He glared, but she smiled with teasing in her eyes, "Look at you fussing over your wife. For a while, I thought you didn't care. I was wrong."

He didn't want to deny, nor accept that fact because he worked his heart, brain, and soul so hard to forget about Natsu the past few years, and admitting he cared would waste those extreme efforts.

"Let's try to sleep." She patted his back.

"Yeah, I'm sure it will go well."

* * *

Talking to Gildarts Clive was hard because of two things. First, he was busy with a significant client meeting, thus, the bad mood and the tetchy voice. Second, there were other meetings with people more important than Gray's call will ever be in Gildarts's life.

Despite all that, Gildarts gave him half an hour, so he had to be concise. And Gray was good at that.

 _"Such crazy shit, kiddo. So the kid was ruined, eh? Which medical center was it?"_ Gildarts asked.

"Kameda medical center. I was thinking of hiring a lawyer because it's getting out of hand and-"

 _"-Kiddo,"_ Gildarts interjected, _"Leave this matter to Hibiki Lates, he'll know what to do. I can understand your anxiety because of the crazy shit, but trust me, you'll get him back."_

His mother advised him to hire a lawyer, and yet, this man continued to convince him Hibiki has got it under control… What was he supposed to do?

 _"Again, if you want to hire a lawyer, It's up to you. But I can't see it doing much for the situation. Your friend is unconscious, so he can't give any statements, Hibiki is working on getting the paper, and as soon as he does, it will be easy getting him out. A lawyer will complicate it further."_

He didn't think one day, he had to put faith in this man, "I understand. I'm waiting for a call from Hibiki now."

 _"I'm sure Hibiki is dealing with a lot, and did a lot, too. Stop whining and if you need days off, tell me first. Your submission got delayed anyway. The client called for another coordination meeting, so there's nothing you can do."_

"That's great." He forgot about work a long time back, "Sure… I will." Gray stopped that yawn from breaking out.

 _"Get some sleep."_

Gray would like that, but who was he kidding? How can he sleep when Natsu, a part of him suffered?

The streets buzzed with people as if it wasn't past midnight. At the medical center it was even busier, however, this time, the receptionist recognized him and led him all the way to Natsu's room. Luckily, the Defense Intelligence people had long gone, thus, he could see his friend, but that's it and it wasn't enough.

He was told to observe silently from the viewing window. And what a heart-calming view. Natsu was wide awake with the oxygen mask under his right eye's bruise. The pink haired watched the nurses patching him up, but as soon as he knew of Gray's presence, he froze.

Gray longed to break through the physical barrier between them, run his fingers in the pink hair, touch his eyes, his warm cheeks, his shoulders. He needed that physical assurance he's alive and safe. All he could do was watch Natsu as guilt gathered in his stomach, and tap his clenched fists on the cold window, itching to break it, and to hell with the consequences.

"Man, you too?"

Hibiki Lates interrupted Gray's menacing thoughts.

"Apologies for the trouble. I know you folks have it tough at the airport, and I'm insensitive about it."

Hibiki's hair was a mess. His necktie was loose, the shirt was dangling out of the black pants, and overall, Gray knows that look. The look of a workaholic like himself on busy submission dates. Hmm, busy submission dates or having leave days to witness your friend being battered?

He'd take busy submission dates anytime.

"This case is driving me mad. Did you _know_ he almost got kidnapped here too?"

He was in the sea. The first news was crazy tides thrashing him around, but this? This was a bashing hurricane.

"He's not safe. Not at the airport, neither this fucking medical center." Hibiki creased a foam coffee cup.

"The ones who assaulted him were our own men. I don't know whom to trust. My friend didn't get the paper, and I don't know why, but I think if the goddamned paper ever existed, it'll be giving us a breakthrough."

"He was… again…" Gray's mind was hung up on that segment of information.

"Yes. Moving on, I need Natsu to move somewhere safe. I'll have him moved to my place in complete discretion. Would you like to come as well?"

"You're his _good_ friend after all." Hibiki tossed the foam cup into the trash can. "No one's to be trusted."

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** In 10-15 days.

 **Special thanks to:** I LOVE UKE NATSU, and grayXnatsuFT. Dudes, you surprised the shit out of me... I can't say enough thanks.

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Flame-Belt


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O ** **.o.**** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** T **h** r **e** e **O **.**** o ** **.** O**

* * *

1:55AM

 _Plip. Plop._

Gray wiped his phone's screen with his black jacket. He stopped leaning against the frame of Hibiki's Land Cruiser and stared at the fire escape's exit, his heart galloping.

He forgot about the rotten decaying smell emitting from the trash containers, that he was leaving his job and mother behind, and that he trusted a stranger. His eyes were fixated on one thing. Natsu's security and safety. Yes, he was a douche-bag for breaking it to his clueless sleeping mother by a 'text message' that he decided to leave the district and head towards the unknown in order to protect his friend, but what options did he have?

Either he did this, or risked Natsu being kidnapped. Kidnapped? Stifling a grunt was all he could do. Natsu was a dumbass who had nothing to be kidnapped for, except for, perhaps, money. Like Natsu's super rich, but not a billionaire-rich that a psychopath would have an eye on him.

Then again, the world was a shitty shit-hole nowadays. For some sickos, money is everything. Happiness, desire, necessity, obsession.

Did Natsu become a wanted felon with a bounty on his head? If that's the case, that's another story.

Gray exhaled, the chilly air itching deep into his skin as he waited. Few more minutes and Natsu would be safe with him until they figure it out.

After he had sent his mom that text, he froze for a few seconds. God, what was he doing? Did he know what he was doing? Was he following the correct course of action? According to Hibiki Lates, a guy he knew as of three days ago, he was.

He took in the _fuck it_ deep breath and banished the doubt rushing in his blood to calm. So long as guilt didn't accompany his decisions, Gray was confident. Guilt would devour him whole if Natsu was harmed because of something he did, or did not do.

Tapping on the wheelchair's metal didn't help his patience. What if Hibiki couldn't make it? What if-

 _'He said 2:02AM. Fucking wait.'_

And Hibiki was accurate. At 2:02AM, he dashed out of the fire escape with Natsu carried on his back, unconscious.

Was the '02' necessary?

Hibiki hustled his way to the Land Cruiser. In hurried movements, he dropped Natsu's body inside, and Gray helped him lift the wheelchair to the Land Cruiser's trunk.

"Ok, here we go." Hibiki started the engine, and they were on their way, "Fasten his seatbelt and yours. This is gonna be one hell of a ride."

"Where to?"

"Do what I said."

Fine, be secretive.

Natsu was there, in hospital clothes, covered with Hibiki's blazer. For a second, Gray thought Natsu wasn't breathing, so he placed his hand on Natsu's chest, and there it was. A gentle rise and fall that ensured his liveliness, safety, warmth.

"Is he… okay?"

"He's fine. Can't let him in on what's happening or where we're going, that's all."

He worked on Natsu's seatbelt, raising his arm. The scrappy nails, the bruise on the back of hand, signs of struggle. He was close enough to see the reddish skin and traces of blood under his nose, the swollen eye. Physical abuse aside, the incident would leave a permanent mental mark in Natsu.

As Gray's fingers grazed the bandage around Natsu's neck, black and violet flames wrapped, united, and dispersed through his limbs that tightened with a desire for vengeance.

Natsu wasn't perfect, but he was that high school (delinquent) student who gave away more than half of his lunch food to a poor hungry classmate. As an adult, he was that dude who had fun standing in the middle of a garden feeding hungry birds. His beaming smile was contagious and cheered lots of people to achieve their goals, to pass a difficult time, to work hard at the Taekwondo club activities. This bullshit shouldn't have happened to someone like him. He held the warm hand in his, grateful the boy's eyelids closed in serenity, and made a promise.

 _'I'm not a hero, but I'll do the absolute best to protect you.'_

No matter how torn or battered, Natsu's hand was still beautiful, same as his pink boyish eyelashes, or his soul that brightened with the purest light. He would defend everything fucking sparkly in Natsu, even if his life paid the price.

* * *

It took them hundreds of kilometers and two hours driving on roads engulfed with a starless night until they reached Hibiki Lates's 'safe' mansion. Gray hoisted Natsu's body and settled him in the wheelchair as Hibiki opened his three security gates.

Hibiki's mansion resembled the fucking concealed entrance to platform nine and three quarters of Harry potter. You pass through the security gates, the main entrance, and discover that the hard silver grey contemporary exterior is a portal to a magical realm of Corona chandeliers, ornamented rugs, and enormous French sofas.

Weird. Hibiki Lates didn't strike him as a classical French interior lover.

"I think that room is convenient since your friend is handicapped at the moment. But first…" Hibiki cuffed Natsu's hands, "Much better. It's about time he wakes up so, careful. He's a felon until we prove otherwise."

"But-"

"Nope. Not negotiating."

Well, no arguing with that _._

Gray pushed Natsu's wheelchair onto the oak parquet corridor's flooring next to Hibiki who showed him the kitchen and the bathroom.

"I'll be in the room opposite to the living room. Need anything, call me."

Gray nodded and bowed, "Thank you so much. It's-"

"-Gray. I'm not doing you a favor. This is really… It's not about you or him anymore. This is about the integrity of my agency and my men, and that's a nightmare, but not your problem. I did myself a favor, so don't thank me."

"It sucks I can't offer help."

"Like I said, not your problem." Hibiki handed him a handbag, "Here. Your friend's luggage and medicine."

"Thanks."

"Take your rest. Like I said, if you need anything, I'm a living room away."

"Goodnight… or shall I say morning?"

They laughed lightly, then Hibiki left him to rest.

Gray placed the bag on the edge of the king-size bed and sighed. The point of no return.

The pleasant floral scent dominated the room from the fresh roses vase onto the night stand as the king-size bed stood out proudly. There was one study desk, a sofa, and two small table lamps giving the dark room light.

He stretched his arms, dismissed his glasses to rub away the sleep from his eyes, and discarded his black jacket, stopping midway when Natsu stirred.

The pink haired wasn't fully conscious, head heavy and swinging to the left and right, eyes half closed.

"Gray?"

A slow smile fought against Gray to govern his features. His throaty voice ridded Gray of the past 20-hours tension. Because… he was there, and the first thing he said was Gray's name.

He kneeled in front of the wheelchair and held Natsu's shoulder, "Hey."

Natsu dozed off, his head falling back.

Gray decided against disturbing Natsu's sleep and carried the clueless boy to bed.

 _'What kinda drug did Hibiki give him?'_

Before he could lay Natsu on the bed, he paused. Natsu's warmth spread through, thinning Gray's skin that his heart could be seen through, enchanted. It was inappropriate, but for a few, just a few seconds, he wanted him to settle there, in his arms.

Natsu's eyes opened again, confused, and held on to Gray's chest, instinctively.

"…eh?"

Gray chuckled, and laid him on the bed, but Natsu won't let go of his shirt. He hovered above Natsu, eyes searching in the boy's disoriented honest ones. His hands wrapped around Natsu's warm one on his chest and as much as it pained him, he tried prying it off.

But it won't. Although Natsu was sedated to hell with no control over his limbs, his hold won't budge.

"… Stay."

He said it. Unconscious or not, Natsu wanted him to stay. It pulled a muffled gasp in his chest as he stared at Natsu longer. His eyes were half-lidded, his lips have lost their healthy color, his smooth naval was exposed under the hospital clothes.

What if he brings those lips their healthy color back? Natsu was unconscious anyway, he wouldn't know.

 _'Stop.'_

"I'll stay." Gray let Natsu hold on to him as he slid Hibiki's blazer off the boy's shoulders, covering him with the beige comforter. He sat next to him, hand in the pink hair, "I'll stay."

"Hmm."

Natsu closed his eyes, satisfied with Gray's answer and soft massage to his scalp.

Gray smiled and continued his ministrations, almost drifting to sleep, "Things are more complicated now, Natsu… I don't know what to do…"

When he was certain his friend dived into a deep sleep, he slipped away from Natsu's hold, and flung his body on the sofa, gaze fixed on the ceiling. They would be strangers again once Natsu is sober. Their relationship would be the ugly patch work that Gray himself created.

 _'Why did it have to be this way, Natsu?'_

* * *

 **Narita, Japan – 10:30AM – Hibiki Lates's Safe House (Mansion)**

Gray spent the two hours left from the night's darkness on the sofa. His plan was to catch some sleep, but his mind was a vigilante over his friend. The previous attacks and attempted kidnappings activated the paranoia in him, causing the current predicament.

He wished for ten minutes of sleep, just ten minutes.

"You're killing yourself. My mansion has three security gates, automatic bollards with an alarm system, the glazing is bullet-proof and vandalism-proof, heck, if we're bombed, the place still won't collapse because the specs of my reinforced concrete walls are something else. You should have slept OK."

His head spun. He didn't have his glasses on, so he could see half of Hibiki's facial details, but it was enough to tell that the blonde wasn't happy, "Thank you for telling me that now."

"Honestly, what is a safe house for? Or did you want me to give you the construction details at four in the morning?"

"Ok dude, no need to yell."

"Shit, I'm not yelling, you need to sleep."

"Cool."

Hibiki stood in the middle of the kitchen in his dress shirt and pants from yesterday, no tie. According to him, he slept for three hours, and they were enough. Lucky him.

Gray's attention was focused on those breakfast sandwiches in the making. He didn't have dinner or a snack for a long time and he was ready to dig in even if it tasted like shit.

Finally, the blond poured orange juice (no coffee for Gray) and a square-shaped plate with his creation. The sandwiches were comprised of kale with eggs and grilled cheese. They were tasty, and his fascination must have appeared because Hibiki chuckled out of the blue in front of his two big ass laptops and weird small device.

"There's more for your friend. Whenever he wakes up."

His cheeks gained a hint of red, "Thanks, it's so refreshing. Your girlfriend's a lucky chick." The eggs were perfect.

"Heh, that's funny." Hibiki munched on his food.

"What? She doesn't appreciate?"

The blond shrugged, "Nah, she doesn't exist."

"Seriously? You look like a great man though."

"So?" Hibiki gave his attention to Gray for a second.

"Behind every great man, there's a great woman. "

Hibiki chuckled again, and returned to his laptop screens, "My occupation is tacky, and I'm more the love and leave kinda guy. Not a great man, I can tell you that."

"Oh." Did he reopen any healing wounds? "There's greatness in that too."

Hibiki laughed this time, "You're so wasted. By the way, you can borrow some of my clothes if you need to change. We'll be staying here for quite some time until the storm calms."

"Thanks, appreciate that."

Fuck, he needed a shower. Those clinging jeans irritated him too, and he couldn't wait to get comfortable in sweatpants, if Hibiki owned them.

It wasn't long before Hibiki's phone rang. He answered a few calls and ignored some. Then came one call that changed the course of the day.

"Fernandes, listen—no you listen-nah, I literally helped the guy escape, trusting that you'll have something. Otherwise, you're dead."

Gray resumed eating his sandwiches, slower than before. Hibiki made agreeable noises, then hung up and Gray was curious, but didn't question because the blond had enough to worry about.

But what the fuck is going on?

"Relax, Fullbuster. Fernandes has good news."

"Ok?"

"He's… well. He's gonna be here, and you're finished, let's go."

No, he wasn't finished, but complied. In hurried steps, he followed Hibiki to the narrow elevator that accelerated upwards to the mansion's roof. Gray's face winced at the sunlight beaming down and shielded his eyes.

Because his ears picked up an uncomfortable buzz, his gaze was forced towards the sky.

"Are you serious?!"

"Yup. I swear to god, it's like I created the helipad on top of this roof only for his sake. Enough abuse already."

The chopper's blades whirr deafened him and shattered his troubled head. When it landed, a guy with sunglasses and large headsets over his ears appeared. He removed both the headsets and sunglasses, grabbed a backpack and hopped off, smiling as he ran their way.

The guy's hair color matched his causal denim jacket over the white V-neck, and the amber of his eyes shone with the sunlight contrasting with the bloody red marking slashing across his eye. Gray's image of formal-suit-and-tie-and-arrogant kind of guy got ruined. This was… well… what?

"Took you long enough princess!" Hibiki yelled out.

They were old friends from the looks of it.

"Is that how a commoner talk to an ambassador?"

Shit…

"Excuse me, your highness. What kind of ambassador can't get in touch with the Guinean embassy in forty-eight hours? It's time you retired."

"What kind of defense intelligence general gets beaten up at the airport AND a lousy medical center by his own men?! You're one to talk!"

Shit...

"That's low. OMG, that's so low."

Shit…

"If your house is made of glass, don't throw stones at others!"

"Come here you little! Shit, I didn't think I would be glad to see you!"

Shit…

Hibiki Lates is crazy.

Hibiki Lates was a defense intelligence general. He was buddies with an ambassador, and was cursing an ambassador and still breathing oxygen. Not only that, they were hugging.

"Gray! My friend, Jellal Fernandes."

* * *

"Lo siento Hibiki-san, I've just realized that I've exposed your identity…" T **he ambassador** , Jellal Fernandes said.

"No worries, you did yours too. Guess we're even." Hibiki laughed, and Gray gawked at the scene.

That Jellal Fernandes was a few years older than him. How the hell did he become an ambassador? Gray cursed owning nothing more than his bachelor of Electrical Engineering. Pathetic.

"Nice to finally meet you in person, Gray."

Like, are you serious? An ambassador was saying it's 'nice' to see him? Fuck, Gray didn't even humor the thought of seeing an ambassador in his lifetime, "… pleasure is all mine."

Hibiki and Jellal laughed, "Gray, loosen up. Jellal's cool."

"I'm so thirsty. The weather's shit." Jellal blurted.

Both of the extraordinary people walked to the living room's bar. "Serious? I wasn't thinking of going outside cause guess what? Got a felon cuffed in that room. Will you enlighten us now?"

"YES!" Jellal laughed.

Hibiki waved to Gray, "Come here!"

Was it legal to sit next to an ambassador? Like, what's the protocol?

"For the love of GOD! Would you sit?" Hibiki dragged Gray to the stool and stomped towards his fridge, taking out Guava juice. It was amusing witnessing the ambassador accept the glass of Guava juice like normal people—way too much like normal people.

When Gray first met with Hibiki, he thought the guy was the pandemic of confidence, but Jellal Fernandes? He won Gray's liking in their first few seconds, at the same time, his body shrunk in size as if sensing the authority and power the blue-haired guy possessed.

His voice was just the right tone, not low, not high, strong enough to resonate.

Jellal Fernandes made the famous gesture of _'Hold up'_ with his finger, then hopped off the bar-stool to go get the backpack from the sofa. He pulled out his laptop and a large pink folder. First, he started up his computer, then removed a paper from the folder, giving it to Gray.

"Your friend wasn't lying." The ambassador begun, "There you go. Attested from the Guinean embassy, you guys have no idea how painful it is to get that paper."

"oooooohhhhh." Hibiki's eyes widened, "You did it bro! But wait, how's that possible?!"

"Yes, dual citizenship! But when did you…?" Gray rubbed his eyes from underneath his glasses, holding the paper as if it was fragile glass.

"Take that Erza Scarlet!"

"But how?!"

"Before you guys bombard me with questions, please wait until I explain."

"…"

"What surprised me was that this task, even for me, demanded effort and negotiations. As Hibiki-san said, I should have gotten this paper in forty-eight hours. If not, I should have at least gotten a word from the Guinean embassy it's being processed."

Something locked Gray's lungs, he needed an answer, "Natsu's Japanese, this isn't real."

Jellal laughed as he drank some of his juice. "He is. He is Guinean too."

Because the paper in his hand had a significant role in proving Natsu's innocence, Gray didn't shred it as he wished he could.

"About three years ago, he traveled to Guinea to help a guy there goes by the name Alzack Connell. Alzack worked in the mines, and down there, Natsu helped a man beaten up and I think the whole thing was an abduction scheme that failed because of Natsu's interference at a crucial time. That's how he got the citizenship."

Gray grunted, "Excuse me? He helped a man, so what?! How-"

"-That man was the vice-president's guard. Senior Ondrej."

Gray and Hibiki gawked at the ambassador.

"Ondrej Jeremiah was grateful to his rescuer and granted him citizenship with the Japanese government's agreement. The guy had a lot of powerful connections so it was easily done." Jellal finished his juice, "Ondrej was in Italy and his information is all confidential, thus, the paperwork took time. Don't ask me how I got this much out, it can cost my life."

Gray sat the paper on the side.

"With all respect, I don't understand. Why would he go to such lengths to grant Natsu the Guinean passport?"

"Pardon me." Jellal apologize for laughing out loud, but he didn't look apologetic, "Some say it was gratitude… Some say it was a gift from Ondrej to Natsu for saving his life, but that's not true."

Hibiki crossed his arms over his chest, and Gray did the same.

"Ondrej was in love with your friend. He wanted them to marry, and when I tracked Ondrej's records, I found a marriage registration paper which was never signed by Natsu Dragneel. Concrete evidence, is that better or what?"

"Ouch! Nice one dude, how the hell did you fucking know?" Hibiki smacked Jellal's shoulder.

Jellal gave Hibiki a look that said it's because I'm so awesome.

What the fuck? Marriage-fucking-registration fuck paper?

The headache Gray's head harnessed because of sleep deprivation soon evolved, thrashed around with the worst information overload.

"First time I see a Guinean dude go gay all the way to marriage. But well, I think their women aren't as soft as foreigners!" Hibiki joked.

"You'll be surprised. There's a huge percentage of Guineans who are gay."

Hibiki's voice heightened, a hard serious look replaced his cheerful features, startling them. He grabbed his gun and aimed behind them, towards the pink haired who listened to their conversation in silence.

"Get on the ground and-"

Gray froze as he stared between the hole of Hibiki's gun and Natsu.

 _'Fuck… fuck, FUCK!'_

In seconds, Gray's robotic body pushed him on his feet, his chest blocking the gun's way to Natsu who complied and got on the floor.

The ambassador sighed and strode towards Natsu, defending him too, "He's innocent, remember?"

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** In 10-15 days.

 **Special thanks to:** JChrista (dude, I'm still hung up on your profile pic), deboome (Long time no see!), and Kori no Koibito (The successful electrical engineer, you have my utmost respect. I know how you guys suffer since my brother is one). Dudes, I know I sound weird, but really, what a fucking day...

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Flame-Belt


	4. Chapter 4

**Author Notes:**

One of the fun chapters that scream ROMAAAAAAAANCE~~~~~ I had a _hard time_ writing this one... I HOPE it turns out to be okay.

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** enjoys literature. This dude made me laugh like crazy from his comments on this chapter!

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O ** **.o.**** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** F **o** u **r** **O **.**** o ** **.** O**

* * *

Atonement.

It does wonders. It forces one to make amends for their conscience's satisfaction, and the Defense Intelligence General wasn't an exception.

He garnished a plate of two eggs and grilled cheese sandwiches, prepared a glass of orange juice, served it all to the falsely accused-civilian, un-cuffed him, and provided extra water glass to ensure he isn't detested.

"What can I say? Not enough sleep, mind pretty jumbled, plus, I have mad reflexes…"  
The blonde sprinkled a pinch of excuses and completed the recipe for reconciliation. The reason Hibiki went to such desperate lengths to apologize, was one grumpy ambassador whose smile brightened, nodding in satisfaction at Hibiki's efforts.

His target was easy to please, given the fact he was dizzy and relieved he wasn't accused of a crime he didn't commit. And that's where Gray needed someone to kick him in the ass. When he first met with Natsu at the airport, he berated and doubted him. If the dignified Defense Intelligence General, Hibiki Lates served Natsu breakfast like a random waiter, then pray tell, what was Gray supposed to do?

They sat around the kitchen's island waiting for Hibiki to settle before the ambassador initiated the conversation.

"Apologies for the lame attitude. Is it fine if we talk, or do you need more rest?"

Natsu's sharp eyes were dull, and the bruise under his eye changed color to a deep blue. Was he conscious? Did he remember what happened? He stared at them, needing orientation of any sort.

Gray opened his mouth to object, but Natsu beat him to it.

"I'm okay." Shit, he sounded like he hasn't spoken for days, "Thanks for the food, but... Ah-who are you? And where is this place?"

Hibiki and the ambassador blinked. Because introductions were forgotten, they put Natsu in a position where he thought they were his kidnappers.

They chuckled, looking at one another, then Hibiki explained, "Hibiki Lates, Defense Intelligence agent. This is Jellal Fernandes, the ambassador who got your attested paper. And… this is my safe house."

"Thanks." Natsu bowed to Jellal Fernandes, who waved off the act.

"If you don't mind me asking," The ambassador said, "Why didn't you bring up Ondrej at the airport? That would have made it easier for you."

Has he mentioned he hated this 'Ondrej' topic?

Natsu rubbed his disheveled hair, bit his lips, then faced the ambassador.

"Whatever… there is between Ondrej and me… he didn't want us to be official, and all the procedures were confidential," Natsu's voice wavered, "When he… proposed, I freaked out. We were happy, but I still freaked out, and… I sort of ran off. I-I wanted to apologize, but he was in Italy and I didn't want to bring up our relationship at the airport… he'd hate it. I knew the paper would take time, and I was ready to wait. I broke his heart, so I deserved what happened."

 _'We were happy…'_

So that's what Natsu has been up to? Those years he disappeared from his life were spent with this Guinean guy and Alzack? Gray was fine before he hears the logic behind the case, but, he wanted this conversation to stop. He couldn't meet with Natsu's gaze while the boy gushed about how _'Happy they were'_.

"Understandable." Jellal lowered his tone to match Natsu's.

Natsu's eye-contact and interaction with Jellal proved that he felt safe around him. Naturally, he trusted him more than Hibiki, who almost blew his brains in the afternoon. And maybe, he trusted him more than Gray. He couldn't say since he avoided looking at the boy in favor of focusing on the attested paper and its silver emblem.

"Away from the whole gay soap-opera, you know you were attacked at the airport, correct?" Hibiki asked.

Natsu's chest rose and fell with faster breaths, his knee bouncing under the counter at a slow pace.

"Yeah... of course."

"Do you remember specific details about those attacks? Faces, names, anything?"

That line of questioning robbed comfort from the pink haired who wiped beads of sweat from his forehead, "Yeah, it's… fresh in my mind. Um…" He licked his lips, "I… was asked, **where's Ondrej Jeremiah?** "

Gray knocked off pretending he was immersed and intrigued with the paper. His gaze met with the guys who weren't expecting that answer.

"In the hospital… again, where's Ondrej Jeremiah?" Natsu swallowed, knee bouncing quicker. He smelled of terror and his pale face signaled he was about to faint, "I… couldn't betray him so I said go fuck yourselves."

"Wait…" Hibiki's arms stretched over the counter, "This is ridiculous, and doesn't add up."

"I… they spoke to someone on the phone and, a man asked me, where's Ondrej Jeremiah? And… I said, go fuck yourself. I think whoever is targeting Ondrej knows about our relationship and that I'd pin his location on a map."

Hibiki rubbed at his blonde eyebrow as he exchanged looks with the ambassador and Gray, who folded his arms over his stomach. They had different pieces of a humongous puzzle. If anything, those pieces deepened the complexity of the case.

"You said a man right?" The blond asked.

"Yes." Natsu swallowed.

"Old man, middle-aged man, young man, a boy?"

"Not a boy for sure. It was… a middle-aged man."

"Hmm." Hibiki nodded, the information settling in his brain.

"What do you think Hibiki-san? Internal infidelity or something else?" Jellal asked.

"Hmmmmmm." Hibiki said, "Infidelity, most likely. A 'middle-aged man' in the force has business to settle with Ondrej Jeremiah, and… yeah, a middle-aged man is pretty much half of the force, if he's in the force to begin with, amazing."

The ambassador whistled and closed the pink folder with Natsu's details, gave it to Hibiki Lates, and raised both of his hands, surrendering. "I'm done here. Your turn's up buddy. This is hardcore **your** forte."

"We'll stay here until we catch the motherfucker who bribed my men. All of your co-operation is required. Questions?"

"Wow. That was fast." The ambassador, said with a small smile.

So yeah, he won't be back to work soon.

* * *

The Sunset scene elaborates and emphasizes clouds. There's always a fuss about how the sun sinks into the ground or the sea, but he loved how the _clouds_ glow atomic tangerine, rose, and royal purple. So freaking beautiful.

 _"Whatever… there is between Ondrej and me…"_

He stood watching the wondrous display behind the glazing, hoping that it'd soothe the internal bruises he had received. A Guinean guy was close to marrying Natsu, and he wouldn't have known shit about it, if this shitty incident hadn't occurred.

Those three years they spent it apart, his heart was numb. It petrified till it became a piece of an ugly Glacier ice-rock, expanded and prickled his lungs so that breathing was challenging. Ondrej's name and identity stirred pain, anger, regret, guilt, and relief, which all ground him at once. Behind the cracking Glacier ice-rock, a shadow of a bleeding heart with strong feelings kicked, throbbed, and fought to make him human once more.

His lips curved in a bitter smile, and a hint of wetness stung his eyelids. Turns out, he can still _feel_. He can still hurt even **_more_**.

How does Natsu feel about him? Did it change? What would've happened if he traveled to Italy? Was he only going to apologize, or accept the proposal and get married?

 _What the fuck is he doing?_ He should stress about the danger lurking. He promised he would protect Natsu, and he intends to keep it.

But-

"Can I intrude?"

Gray leaned on the curtain wall. He maintained his smile and let his eyes pleasure in the rose-pink hair of Natsu. He missed this, he missed Natsu more than the younger can fathom.

"There's room for you." He said, crossing his arms.

"Good…" Natsu stared at him first. When Gray's obvious intensity lasted for seconds, his eyesight stretched beyond Gray, cheeks shifting color to a faint pink as he fiddled with the bandage on his neck, "Man, I'm really sorry. This is all complicated shit, and... I…"

"Can't believe it. You're apologizing?"

Natsu blinked.

"I treated you like shit. I ridiculed every word you said and thought you were lying for sure. More than an apology, I expected a bitch slap or something."

"Oh… haa!" The pink haired boy chuckled, beaming at him. So long since he indulged in one of those smiles, "True. You're still the jackass I know, so let's get that out of the way. I thought that ah... you didn't give a shit anymore, but I was wrong. You were there for me, and that's… more than enough. I'm the one shell-shocked here."

He shrugged and felt heroic all of a sudden. His endangered career, his lack of sleep and exhaustion, nothing mattered. If it's only one of those breathtaking smiles, nothing mattered.

"That's what best friends do. They protect each other's backs, right?"

"Right… um." Natsu's gorgeous smile dropped, "So… Where did we go wrong? Heck, where did _I_ go wrong?"

"Natsu. I'm not doing this now, _no_."

"Why?" Natsu took a step closer, "I… deserve to know! You-"

"-Not doing this now."

"You can't do this. It's not up to you to-"

"-But I don't wanna fight now." He pleaded Natsu with his weary eyes, "And I haven't slept since yesterday and... not now."

"…" Natsu retreated, and whipped his head in the other direction, "Unbelievable."

His arms itched to wrap Natsu in a bear hug. To tell him he hates himself for hurting him, that he lived those three years as an empty shell. But he lacked the courage to accept blame, or no signs of forgiveness.

"Sooo," He needed to skip this topic and quickly, otherwise, Natsu won't smile for him again, "Ondrej Jeremiah? Why didn't you marry him after what he did for your sorry ass?"

"This is stupid."

Gray blocked Natsu from leaving, "Answer."

"This process goes two ways, no? You're not answering me, why should I answer you?"

"…"

"See?"

"You're right." Gray unblocked Natsu's way and leaned back on glazing, "I have a reason. A strong one. And I promise, when this is all over, we'll sit over a peaceful lunch, and I'll tell you everything."

"You promised." His friend said, "I'll hold you to that."

"Cross my heart. So… would you tell me why?"

With the viciousness of a wolf, Gray's intense stare circled around Natsu, the helpless beaver who scratched the right side of his neck where a small scar existed, searching for a way out.

He was curious, _that's all_.

"What's it to you?"

"Just curious."

"He's a great guy… wasn't the right one for me. There were issues."

"If he's such a great guy, why didn't you compromise?" Pull yourself together, be cool.

Natsu's body squirmed invisibly under Gray's interrogating gaze.

"… Guess we're not meant to be. I felt that, so… yeah."

"Hmmmmm." He teased Natsu with his _there's more to it_ -hum, and got himself an eye-roll.

"Shut up."

"Said nothing."

"You don't have to, asshole."

"Natsu, could you come over?" Hibiki Lates called from upstairs, "There's an elevator on your left."

"Ok."

"I'll come with you." He walked by Natsu's side.

"This is gonna be a medical session, so unless you're okay with seeing blood, don't." Hibiki warned.

"I'm okay."

* * *

He hadn't had enough sleep, and Hibiki's mansion didn't help. It made him double-check his sanity, or what's left of it.

As soon as they entered the room operated by Hibiki's fingerprint, they officially left the classicism downstairs. Hello science-fiction. It was all LCDs, computers, and exotic devices lit by striking fluorescent light. Multi-colored wires extended underneath the perforated aluminum raised flooring and several power boxes popped up too.

Fuck, this was a sick dream. One that had Natsu as a Guinean, then he was inside an alien spaceship.

Gray said he was okay with seeing blood. He never mentioned he was alright with a mini-operation of digging, removing stitches, and patching.

Actually, he took a minute to mourn for Hibiki's poor career choice. The blonde could transform from a detective, to a soldier, to a skilled medic and it irked him. What else could he transform into? Disinfecting a minor scratch and slapping a pitiful band-aid on it was tough and stressful enough, Hibiki deserved a round of applause.

The almost ten inches long slash across Natsu's chest showcased the violence his friend endured and the loyalty he offered to Ondrej which meant, they were serious. As in, marriage-serious.

 _'Cool.'_

When the pink haired squirmed a few times, Gray interfered to stop Hibiki, at least to give Natsu a minute or two of a deep breath, but the blond continued his work as if Gray wasn't in the room, Natsu wasn't in pain, and he didn't have a human heart.

"Ok. We're done-"

"-Can we put it on later? I wanna shower, so after?"

The blonde nodded, and refrained from wrapping the bandage on the bruised neck, "That's fine. You don't have to put it on anyway."

"Wow." Natsu said, "The world sure is spinning." Natsu used the handle in the elevator to lean on as he held his head, like he was about to stumble and faint.

"Should you _really_ shower now?" Because _really_ , he shouldn't.

"It has been four days since I last had a decent shower, I smell like a cat that hopped off a mega trash container, so _really,_ I should. The fuck if I'm staying in these hospital pajamas any longer."

"First of all, it's closer to a traditional dress than pajamas-"

"-Asshole."

"And you smell divine. You need to rest more."

His friend _humph-ed_ with arrogance, raised his nose in pointless pride, and stomped out of the elevator.

That brat.

"Idiot…"

The elevator dinged, and they were out.

"Don't follow me." Natsu said.

"You wish! I'm coming for my phone!"

The ambassador chuckled at their childish interaction and resumed working on his laptop in the living room.

What's with that attitude? A sigh burst out of his lungs as he sat on the bed and checked his phone. Natsu grabbed clothes from his handbag, stumbling on the way out of their room.

 _'… Is he gonna be fine? That idiot.'_

The few dry texts and blinking missed calls from Ur made him prefer that he was the one targeted for a successful abduction scheme. Drowsiness was one reason he refused to call. He couldn't talk to her and sound like he had been doing drugs. They got the paper, Natsu was free to go… but something held him back. Until the blond uncovers what went on in his department, which shouldn't take time, the matter wasn't done yet.

Hibiki Lates ran a tremendous search on all the 'middle-aged' men in the force, focusing on their whereabouts, and their recent contact details, but that wasn't all. His colleagues in the defense Intelligence agency were interrogating the two men who attacked Natsu in the medical center which should be more fruitful.

Apparently, the man could have not used his real voice. Also, maybe he's not a man. Voice wasn't an accurate evidence to lean on, thus, Hibiki took other precautions. Gray got out of Hibiki's way because he didn't fancy being involved in this kinda shit.

 _Thud._

He locked his phone and strode towards the bathroom.

 _What did he say?_ Resisting the urge to yell, Gray glared at his friend who fell on the bathroom floor, his hand rubbing his pink head.

Natsu struggled to stand and retrieve his tough front.

"Trying to shower. Who said you can come in here?"

Gray tapped his foot on the dark honeycomb ceramic floor pattern, "I can see that happening without severe bone fractures."

Not waiting for approval, Gray took off his shirt and glasses, "Gonna let me help now?"

* * *

 _'What the fuck were you thinking?'_

Gray was so drowsy that he walked himself into a trap. It was supposed to be two friends helping each other shower causally, nothing freaky about it.

But everything was wrong and alarming that the sleep haze cleared. Those small water crystals that raced at Natsu's well-defined back towards his towel-covered butt, they instigated drought in his throat. How would they taste while being licked off that mole-sprinkled caramel skin?

He sweated, swallowed again. Fuck, he was the worst mess.

As his hands incorporated the peppermint shampoo over the damp pink hair, he couldn't help but shiver at the blaring contrast between their skin tones. His paleness and Natsu's crème beach sands complexion. If at all, those back scratches proved hard work and harsh weather and they were beautiful.

For a long time, Gray wanted to add his own set of scratches. To leave his own print engraved in someone he cared about way more than he should.

All of Natsu's muscles turned rock-hard under his touch, except for when a light shiver vibrated as Gray's finger traced the moles on his back, pretending to cleanse the shampoo foam. He couldn't _resist_. The boy was tight-lipped and Gray couldn't tell if his ears reddened because of him or the hot water shower.

The bathroom with its searing steam and peppermint scent felt suffocating. He exhaled and inhaled in the efforts of purging the malicious virus from his veins and lungs, but it was in vain because when he inhaled, it came back stronger.

If Natsu was a girl, he wouldn't have waited until they got to the showering part. It consumed too much energy and self-discipline not to pin Natsu against the marble wall tiles, touch his cheek, kiss him with all his might while his hands ghost on all wonderful parts of his hot body.

 _'Fuck you. How could you do this to yourself? You should've just let him stumble his way through it.'_

He had to focus on the task at hand and survive this tough one. He had to.

His fingers pushed Natsu's chin upwards and earned a breathless gasp.

"What…?"

"Idiot, I'll stick my fingers in your eyes and blind you for life so push your head back."

Natsu complied, and again, under Gray's touch there was a shiver. Was it because of him or the cold air? Gray's son of a bitch heart felt like a group of mountain rocks tumbling down on his chest, leaving pain and bruises behind. If Natsu paid a little, just a little of attention, he might hear it, and it was frightening.

While his left hand held the side of the boy's moist neck, he stared at the closed eyes, the water drops falling from the sculpted nose's slope and how it settled in between Natsu's lips.

It was a good thing Natsu sat facing the wall because his jeans couldn't conceal how hard he was. The fucker denied him not only the pleasure of sleep, but also aroused him when he _totally_ didn't want to be aroused by Natsu fucking Dragneel.

 _'Think logically, you can't attack him. You just can't.'_

"So…" Gray paused, rinsing his voice from the desire sticking to it, "Does it hurt? The thing on your chest…"

Natsu shrugged, licking his lips.

"Stings a bit, but nothing I can't manage."

"… Was Ondrej the kind of person worth sacrificing yourself for?" The question was out before Gray could stop himself.

Natsu's eyes were closed, but a grunt and a scrunched nose told Gray that Natsu wasn't happy with the question.

"Muusat… yahii."

"Hmm?" He continued his kneading through the pink hair.

"I'd never sell any of my friends, let alone boyfriends… what are you talking about?"

 _Boyfriends?_

"Ya dum, ya dum, ya dum!"

Natsu tapped his hand on Gray's one on his shoulder, urging him to let go.

"What did you say?"

"…" Natsu chuckled with nervousness, "Just a habit."

"A habit? Lower your head, yeah, that's it."

"It's… uh, how I used to speak for three years. Comes out now and then."

"HUH?" Gray sprayed water all over Natsu's head, "Fuck me, Guinean?"

"Yeah."

"Fuck…" Natsu speaks another language? The idiot faced challenges learning the English language, you gotta be kidding, "Asami-sensei will choke and die if she heard this bullshit."

"Heh… people adapt, even idiots." Natsu shrugged, "Was hard at the beginning, but I couldn't stand there and watch them talk all the time that language, it made my head spin, you have no idea how that feels like."

Gray left the soap for Natsu to scrub himself and helped him with spraying the water.

Because he won't help him scrubbing. Absolutely not. There was one way that was gonna end. And he refused to be called a rapist.

"Of course I won't. Didn't go to Africa or obtain their Guinean citizenship, my head doesn't work that way."

"Gimme that and get out."

"Sure thing." Gray planned to go the minute Natsu didn't need help because GOD, being with him naked was terrible planning. To detox his veins from the yearning that soaked in them, more than unicorn images were required.

So much more.

Gray wiped his chin with the towel and put on his shirt. He thought he moved on, why did it come back? Shit, it scorched him stronger than before, so what the fuck was going on? Why aren't you keeping your heart baby in line?

Natsu could do it. He got himself a nice… black hunk, and almost got married, yet why couldn't you? Fucker, forget about him already! He wasn't even **yours**. Why the _hell_ are you jealous of someone courageous enough to take what he wanted… even if what he wanted was Natsu Dragneel?

Since Ondrej was brought up, his mind visualized him with Natsu so many times, against his wish, and it cut through him with a sharp knife. That guy… did he lay his hands on Natsu? Did he see Natsu naked?

 _'He did, and it's you to blame, no one else.'_

The inner fever of hatred intensified and increased the pace of his breathing.

Another thud.

No. Please, not again.

Peeking into the bathroom, Natsu was decent. At least, he had his pants on. He leaned on the sink as if he had recovered from a fall.

Shit.

He hurried inside and helped the boy stand, "What happened?"

"I dunno…" The boy pants were harsh and slow, "The world sure is spinning…"

"Hey, hey, easy. You gotta breathe okay? Fuck, I knew this was a bad idea." Gray braced himself, carried the pink haired who had lost his footing on his back, and headed to their room.

No protest came out of Natsu whose breathing was screwed. Fuck, was he hyperventilating?

He planned to inform Hibiki about it after he laid him on the bed, but Natsu's held his arm and swallowed, his dull eyes pleading him.

"Don't leave."

"I gotta go-"

"- **No**."

His steel grip around Gray's arm and his firm no-arguing-about-this tone surprised Gray. The joy of Natsu needing him was fantastic, but it was horrifying too. What can he do for Natsu? What can he offer? Nothing. Exactly like before, just nothing. He's all imperfections and arrogance.

"I mean, please?"

His knees weakened at the look Natsu gave him. _What do you want?_ What did you really want from Gray? Why don't you ever speak up? If you don't, how on earth was he supposed to know?

His throat dried and trapped words, and Gray had to pull them out, "Hibiki has to know-"

"I'll be fine… please…"

Well, that's decided. He couldn't go against Natsu's please.

* * *

Natsu was brought back to life with the fanning Gray did. He was right, there was nothing alarming. Since Natsu was strangled in the airport, his breathing process has been unstable, and being exposed to steam or strong fragrances wasn't recommended by the KMC doctor. Natsu being Natsu, he blew the fuck out of those recommendations, Hibiki's warnings, and did what he wanted.

"Why did you leave?"

Gray turned his back on his shirtless sleeping hot friend, shifting to sit at the edge of the bed, as far as he can from a confrontation. He stared long at the table lamp lighting up the dark room. A mini-wave of nausea hit him as his arms formed a V-shape between his knees that bounced slowly, trying to rid himself of the sick sensation.

"Tell me why."

Gray would fly over multiple districts to save Natsu, he would participate in a secret-transfer missions to protect Natsu, he would take a bloody shot in the heart for Natsu, but he can't tell him why. He promised he would, but he regretted that promise, and may come across as a liar.

But again… he would lie to Natsu for none other than Natsu.

"It's all complicated."

"It's not. Gray, for the love of _God_ …" Natsu groaned and rolled on the bed, using Gray's shirt to push himself to sit, "You're making it complicated. You complicate everything... when it doesn't **need** to be…"

His heart was seconds close to detonation. He became too conscious of Natsu's weight stuck onto his side, his melting touch over Gray's shoulder, his spicy scent of soap. Natsu filled the emptiness thermometer in Gray till it reached the top and spilled on his chest. The substance was a vital sensation Gray hasn't felt for a long time.

 _'I beg you, stop. I can't…'_

Natsu's tingling breath on his neck crumbled the last piece of self-discipline. It was faint, nonetheless, it canceled Gray's speech and restored his contained arousal.

He whipped his head to say fuck off, to shove Natsu away. Instead, he committed the felony of looking at Natsu's lips. They were too close, too alluring.

 _'Get the fuck off me, or I'll kiss the shit out of you.'_

Calm the fuck down. Calm. Breathe. Don't let his handsomeness sweep you away. Remember, he's your friend and you can't damage this friendship more than it already is, stay grounded and strong.

He was officially screwed. Because when he looked away from Natsu's lips, Natsu's innocent gaze held his and cancelled his breath.

Enough was enough. Gray forced himself to speak up after he had gathered the remains of his voice. He was sure he'd sound pathetic, but hey, he tried.

"I told you to wait if you wanna know."

"Why not tell me now?" Their lips got closer, "I don't… understand."

This hypnotism has to stop, it has to.

As if it was a godly interference, Natsu pulled away as quick as he can to sneeze, feet flying in the air. Gray's tense as fuck muscles relaxed, especially his abdomen ones.

 _'Thank you… wherever you are, you fucking saved my life.'_

He gave himself a minute to breathe away from Natsu's gaze. When he heard the second sneeze, he almost laughed.

"Where's your shirt?"

"Ugh… bathroom…"

Gray went to get it. Phew, that was close.

But hang on. Did Natsu know he was gonna be kissed?

 _'Idiot, now you're being a deranged asshole.'_

He was supporting Natsu to dress up when his phone vibrated.

Multitasking? Gray put it on speaker mode. His phone has always been a source of inconvenience because of the high volume, but for once it came in handy.

"Hello?"

 _"What's up? Gonna be in Narita forever?"_

Gray chuckled as he tugged the shirt over Natsu's head, "Not really. I didn't get the time to update you with all what's happening, it's… it's crazy."

 _"Tell me about it. It's crazy here too. And we miss the junior electrical engineer of ours."_

Jeez, he could see his managing director's glare from the phone.

 _"I get you're helping your friend and everything, but kiddo, think about your career as well."_

"I'm… terribly sorry for the inconvenience. Right now, I can't come back."

 _"Too bad. Erik-kun misses you."_

"He does? I do too. You have no idea."

 _"I think I do. He laughs here and there and he's hosting a party because he felt like it. So I guess the feeling is mutual."_

"Hoooo. Tell him I wouldn't miss his party for the world."

 _"What's that? Hold up, kiddo. Sorry, what's that?"_

Gray remained on hold for a minute before Gildarts answered him, _"Gotta go. I would like to have a report on what's happening later, understood?"_

"Sure."

Gray hung up and turned to see Natsu, who had a towel above his head.

"Aren't you gonna dry your hair? We don't want you getting sick."

When he touched the towel on Natsu's head, the boy slapped his hand away.

 _'Huh…?'_

As inhumanely as possible, Natsu punched a hole in Gray's stomach, putting a stop to Gray's breath. The pain shot and dispersed towards his back, blurred his vision, and landed him on his knees.

The next thing he knew, Natsu bolted outside.

Natsu… was he so upset Gray wanted to touch him?

Don't be ridiculous, that was past rejection.

* * *

One: Natsu was injured somewhere in his body, so where did his demonic strength come from? Impressive.

Two: Natsu punched Gray.

Three: Natsu fucking punched Gray then ran off.

Gray was on the wooden floor processing, but failed. He held his stomach, groaning as he chased the pink headed freak after seconds of contemplation.

"What the…?"

"Eh?"

The ambassador and the blond jerked themselves away from their laptops, watching the scene dumbfounded. A loud siren echoed in the house, and his breath hitched.

Where the fuck did Natsu get the gun? The pink haired faced a high wall, then turned where Gray was, panting. Hibiki Lates wasn't kidding when he said the house was secure.

That's why, Hibiki Lates was the last one to show up outside the entrance door, while the ambassador stood as alarmed as Gray.

 _'What is he fucking doing?!'_

Natsu pointed the hole of the gun towards them.

"Natsu?" Jellal Fernandes spoke as if the boy wasn't a threat, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Sweat dashed on Natsu's forehead, his hands, under his lips. His narrowed alligator eyes had a dangerous red gleam that pierced through the trio.

"WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU?!"

Hibiki stopped Gray from dashing forward, "Are you insane?!"

"I'm not an idiot, guys." Natsu panted, "I don't know why you'd think like that."

"Who said that?" Jellal asked.

"Nice try." Natsu laughed, "You all stay away from me. Let me out or I'll-"

"You'll what?" Hibiki chuckled, "Kill us? Did you kill before? Do you know how that works?"

Natsu gritted his teeth, "Son of a bitch, let me out or my finger will slip."

No… No no no! He decided not to lose Natsu again. He decided that he would help him, save him, protect him against everything! How can he do that now?!

"Let's discuss this, ok? Violence is-" Hibiki began.

"Stop bullshitting and let me out!"

"Hibiki-san…" Jellal sighed, "You… why did you leave your gun around like that?"

"Oh, so it's MY fault?!"

"You know you have civilians in the house and stuff, so yeah."

"Unbelievable!"

A huge **CLACK** echoed in his eardrums. His hands flew to his ears to block the noise.

Fuck…

When he opened his eyes, Hibiki was holding a gun, and the gun in Natsu's hand rested on the ground.

"Happy now?" The blond asked the ambassador.

"Much better."

Natsu reached out for the gun, but Hibiki was there next to him, bending his arms behind his back, and successfully cuffing him.

* * *

"What the fuck has happened?!" Gray and Hibiki questioned Natsu, "Like SERIOUSLY?!" That was Gray yelling, "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT, HUH?!"

"Tell me I didn't put my career's future in the dumpster because of this guy! This is insane! That's how he pays me back?!" Hibiki yelled too.

Jellal Fernandes was the rational, quiet one. "Guys," His amber eyes twitched, "There's a duct tape on his mouth."

"You know what, I don't wanna hear it." Gray kicked the chair next to Natsu and glared at him, shouting in his face, "I skipped work, I let everything important in my life be on the sidelines for this idiot!"

Natsu's hands were above his head, cuffed to a hook dangling from a steel column—in the living room. His feet were cuffed, and no matter how much he squirmed or shot them those filthy looks, he wasn't going ANYWHERE.

Jellal removed the duct tape with one painful move. His usual calm gaze shifted to stone-serious as he spoke, "Alright, you have five minutes to explain yourself. Five minutes, that's it. If you refuse, I'll put this back on and Hibiki-san will ensure no one hears from you ever again."

The pink haired laughed a ridiculing laugh, sweat visible on his forehead from all the running and attempts to break out. He bit his lip, then yelled at them.

"If you guys want me dead, then why am I not dead yet?! Get over with it and cut the crap! Cut the bullshit and do it!"

They all looked at him like he was crazy. Because, hello~~~

HE WAS!

"Why would any of us want you DEAD?! I saved your ass! Do you want me to-"

"-Hibiki-san! Please, calm down." Jellal tried.

"Fuck, I'm losing my cool and because of a kid. I need more sleep man…" The blonde laid his gun on the table, earning a scolding glare from Jellal. Apparently, the whole drama happened because someone throws his guns around like pieces of home accessories.

He cleared his throat, picked it up.

The ambassador sighed.

"No, you know what?! Screw you! DUDE! WHY WOULD I WANT THAT?!" Gray yelled back.

"YOU WERE TALKING TO THAT GUY!"

"What guy?! I was talking to my director! I was talking to Gilda-"

"-And he just so happens to be my kidnapper?!" Natsu panted, "He's the one… if he's the one then… Why are you keeping me here? What do you want with me?"

Gray Fullbuster, Hibiki Lates, and Jellal Fernandes, became motionless. Their minds exerted so much effort to understand Natsu's statement.

"Come again?" And Hibiki Lates didn't understand.

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** In 10-15 days.

See? I told you, this chapter screams ROMANCE. But then... it's not so much Romance, hahaha.

BUT NO WORRIES. More romance to come. My romance comes when you least expect it *Winks!* I hope this story's first 'Intimate, emotional' scenes has earned your liking.

 **Special thanks to:** Kori no Koibito (You asked a question in your review, I hope this chapter answers it? I know it's still vague, but will clarify soon! You made my day, hot girlfriend ;)), JChrista (Well, guess what? Gray's about to really lose it, you were right. Everything is so overwhelming... at least he sees Natsu, right? Hehe, thank you for your sweetness!), I. LOVE. UKE. NATSU (I'm working myself, and I know how hard it is! No worries! As long as you're reading it and enjoying it, I'm happy! I hope you got a chance reading Chapter 3!), mdelpin (Honestly? I love reading on my phone. When I read on my laptop it's suffocating. Phone allows you to sleep, chill while reading! So don't worry, and don't ever apologize! Just enjoy and chill on your sofa!)

You guys made my day!

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share criticizing comments on the romance in this chapter. I'd like to know if it went wrong, it makes me learn more about writing in general. If you have enjoyed it, let me know!

Alright, till next time!

Flame-Belt


	5. Chapter 5

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** enjoys literature. (Hawk-eye).

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O ** **.o.**** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** F **i** v **e O** ** **.**** o ** **.** O**

* * *

"-And he just so happens to be my kidnapper?!" Natsu panted, "He's the one… if he's the one then… Why are you keeping me here? What do you want with me?"

Gray Fullbuster, Hibiki Lates, and Jellal Fernandes were paralyzed. Their minds exerted so much effort to understand Natsu's statement.

"Come again?" But Hibiki Lates didn't understand.

Natsu clenched his jaw and jerked his body forward to break from the cuffs, "OH MY GOD! You're taking me for a fool!"

You know what? Gray didn't sleep for twenty straight hours, so maybe he heard wrong. No, it _has to be_ wrong.

Right?

Before Gray could refute Natsu's bullshit, Hibiki and Jellal dragged him to the elevator, then to Hibiki's spaceship-like workshop.

The ambassador grabbed a five-wheeled-chair and flopped himself on it as Hibiki closed the room.

"Are we talking… about Gildarts Clive?"

The blonde answered his ambassador friend with a nod.

"Shit… that Gildarts?"

Holy shit… Gildarts Clive? That Gildarts Clive? Fuck, no. Hang on. Maybe it's one of those misunderstandings wherein Natsu thought it was Gildarts Clive, but maybe it isn't and the actual culprit's voice resembled Gildarts's.

"Hibiki-san… Is it a misunderstanding? Maybe it's a voice resemblance and-"

"-How long was your conversation with Gildarts?"

God, what if it **is** Gildarts Clive? Gray reported to him the name of the medical center in Narita where Natsu was attacked for the second time. So Natsu almost got kidnapped because of _Gray_? If no one denied that horse-shit, Gray should visit an asylum and get proper mental care.

"Gray."

"Sorry, what?"

The blonde sighed.

"I know this is insane, but I need you to focus, okay? How long was your conversation with Gildarts?"

"Ahhhh… two minutes? Five minutes, maximum. And he was on speaker mode."

"Shit." Hibiki and Jellal said in unison.

"Wh-what?"

"God!" Hibiki rubbed his hair as if he was pulling it out from the scalp and tossed his body on one of the five-wheeled chairs.

"Gray…" The ambassador stood, "Two minutes are enough to distinguish a person's accent, attitude. So… I'm afraid… your friend is telling the truth."

"If your friend is telling the truth, it means Gildarts has used me to get to him. He used _me_." Hibiki Lates pointed his finger towards his own chest and jabbed it, looking at Jellal, "He used _me!_ WHY? Do you have the slightest idea how this complicates things at the headquarters? The director will open the gates of hell upon me!"

Oh hell no. Hell no. It's not Gildarts.

"He'll regret the day he decided to fool me." Hibiki said.

"Let's say it's that guy…" He removed his glasses and stared at the blonde, "Why? What's his problem?"

Jellal answered for the frustrated Hibiki, "There's a link. We know that he wants Ondrej Jeremiah's location, and your friend got caught in the crossfire. At least, that's how I see it."

"Probably." Hibiki's eyes tightened, "I need to figure out the nature of this connection. And… Gray, get me your phone. Now."

The blonde used his fingerprint to open the door, and Gray strode to do as he was told, passing by Natsu who jerked around in all directions to free himself from the post they cuffed him to.

Hypothetically, if Natsu was correct, and Gildarts Clive was the guy who attempted to kidnap him, then… where did Hibiki Lates fit in this scheme? What about the ambassador? Were they his accomplices? Were they stabbing him in the back?

But it made little sense. If they were Gildarts's accomplices, Hibiki could have kidnapped Natsu from when he had set foot in Japan, and Jellal wouldn't have defended Natsu earlier, or attempted to get the paper necessary to exonerate his friend.

Unless… It was a twisted scheme that didn't correspond to normal logic.

Breathe in, breath out.

If Hibiki is an accomplice, what the fuck should he do? How is he supposed to get himself and Natsu out of this intact? Hibiki was strong enough to get what he wanted, and if he wanted them trapped in his safe house until he carries out his 'hypothetical twisted' plans, they would **never** escape.

That low, so low beep of Hibiki's fingerprint's acceptance tone has pulsed through Gray's cells, and overloaded his eardrums. Gravity tripled in force until it rooted his feet deeply to the floor. God, what if 'hypothetically' he was relinquishing the only mean of escape willingly, like a fucking fool? He has been doing that a lot.

Shit. His mom was right. He should have gotten a lawyer instead of relying on Hibiki because 'he seemed like a good guy'. A fucking third grader could've been less naïve.

"Gray."

Hibiki's voice was a serpent that slithered around Gray's left leg, all the way up to his torso, swirled towards his neck and squeezed.

"Give me the phone, please."

"Why?"

"Why? It's a long story and I need it now-"

"-Hibiki-san." The ambassador shook his head, and approached Gray, "What's wrong, Gray?"

"Everything's wrong." Gray retreated a step from the ambassador, "I don't know what on earth is happening, and that's wrong enough. Tell me, why do you need my phone?"

Hibiki opened his mouth, but the ambassador stopped him with his palm.

"We're as shocked and confused as you are, and I'm sure you're clever enough to understand that we wouldn't have waited that long, if we wanted to harm you. And… Hibiki-san wants to make sure Gildarts Clive isn't tracking you. Even if we're not sure it's him, we have to be cautious."

Are these people trustworthy?

"Gray!"

Hibiki didn't allow Jellal to interrupt him this time as he took out his gun from his leg holster.

Shit… shit, he knew it! He shouldn't have trusted them!

"Take it, but give me your phone, deal? This is serious! I need to disable the fucking GPS service and there's no time for your trust issues right now!"

Hibiki shoved the gun at Gray's chest and caught the phone so that Gray stood dumbfounded with a gun in his hands.

 _'Shit shit shit! It's **A** gun!' _

Just to be clear, Gray had NEVER held a gun before. No, that's not it. He had never HAD to. His hands trembled from the weight of the deathly tool. It was warm from Hibiki's earlier shot, and he struggled against dropping the lethal metallic object.

Well, that's not fair! Even if he wanted to defend himself, he wouldn't know how to use the bloody thing! So yeah, he kept those amazing facts to himself to not come across as a wuss.

Hibiki hurried with the work on his phone, connecting it with one of his weird devices.

"Two minutes… shit… he could have traced it…"

Both have acted as if Gray wasn't holding a gun, the screen of Hibiki's PC intriguing them. Jellal Fernandes made disagreeing noises at Hibiki's statement, then said, "If he wanted to trace the call, hypothetically, he can't do it that fast."

Hibiki's eyes widened, "What If someone was helping him?"

"We'll freaking cross that bridge when we come to it. First, GPS service-disable or manipulate that shit."

Hibiki grunted, "Fuck me and sleep deprivation. I totally forgot about handling this phone since the very beginning."

"Do it now. Gray, did you tell him about your current location?"

"N-no. God no. He interrupted the call before I could."

"Perfect."

Gray's fears began to dissipate, but he didn't let guilt anywhere near him. He didn't know those guys, and he didn't want to risk Natsu's safety or his because he blindly trusted them from the beginning. He was suspicious, and it was only right.

"Guys, what about Natsu? What are we going to do?"

It was the least of their concerns, that's why his question hung in the air.

"He's in no state to be released. I know what's cooking in his head right now and trust me, it's rotten. As soon as we free him, he's gonna cause trouble and I don't have the luxury of playing Tom and Jerry with him now." The blonde said as he tapped with immense intensity on his keyboard.

Jellal nodded, "He's shocked, and that won't do us good. You experienced that first hand, right?"

True. "So what? We can't leave him hanging in that room for eternity."

"Amigo, I'll leave this to you." The blond didn't appreciate the interruption.

The blue-haired boy nodded and dragged Gray away from where the blond worked.

"Gray-"

"First, I know I look like an asshole, but I'm going crazy here, and I'm not apologizing for that."

Jellal smiled that goddamn genuine smile of his, "You don't need to. I'd do the same thing if I were you, but on a bigger scale."

"I don't want him frightened, or worried. I almost got him killed twice because I trusted someone I shouldn't have… whatever I do… it's all going terribly wrong, what do I do?"

He was a powerless pussy who poured his guts out to a random stranger. It was time to give up that pride and admit he went off the intended course. He needed a freaking manual for this _How to get Natsu out all of this alive_ -issue. Because Natsu was cuffed to some post like an animal, and Gray stood with no plan or clue.

"What are you saying? Listen, you can't blame yourself for this, alright? No one saw this coming, not even Hibiki-san." Jellal grabbed the cuff keys from Hibiki and handed them to Gray, "Talk to him, get him calm enough and he can go, otherwise, we can't afford to release him. Do you understand my point?"

Gray traced the silver keys in his palm with his thumb. Was it a wise idea to let Natsu go? What if he pulls stupid shit on them again? Shit, that asshole's punch put a dent on his stomach.

"I can't do this. He's probably thinking I'm a part of a plot against him."

"No, that's not true. Anyone with a good set of eyes will see he treats you differently. Take advantage of that for his sake."

Gray didn't know what to make out of Jellal's statement.

"I gotta go help Hibiki-san with his Gildarts-Ondrej connection. I don't mean to brag, but if we work together as always, nothing will stop us. We've exonerated your friend of a crime he didn't commit… and it's a matter of time before we get a hold of what's going on."

"Who… is this guy?"

"Pardon?"

"Gildarts Clive… who is he?"

"Hmmmmm." Jellal crossed his arms over his chest, "It's complicated. Let's postpone this conversation, ok?"

* * *

Fucker was injured, fresh out of treatment, but still, that didn't tone him down. Because Natsu is Natsu. Fucker was as stubborn as a bull, and the longer Gray stood there, the longer he resembled a Matador's freaking red cape.

When Gray's stomach complained from the pain, his white knuckles wished to slam itself against Natsu's cheekbones, so bad.

Tomato red splotched Natsu's face. Of course. Adding to his nail-scraps earlier, Natsu's wrists looked as if they were burned from the series of futile pull-ups to break the cuffs around his hands and feet. His veined biceps contracted, his feet and hands yanked, the pulse in his neck quickened, even his teeth were occupied with the chains as his body swayed left and right.

Natsu could hardly breathe, his chest rose and fell strongly, but he wouldn't quit, even in Gray's presence. In fact, he continued his relentless monkey movements and Gray was just another piece of furniture in the room.

Gray sighed.

"Can we talk, please?"

Natsu pulled himself up, pressurizing the chain, not giving Gray any importance, "Like I can stop you."

 _'Eh. Be the rational one…'_

Gray asked, "Do you think I can hurt you? And be fucking careful how you answer that."

Natsu grunted. The clanking of the chains, his groans and pants the only sound filling the living room.

"Starting to believe so, yeah."

 _Motherfucker._

"This is brilliant." Bitterness laced Gray's tone, "Seriously? After the effort to keep you safe..."

"I didn't know restraining someone in cuffs is the new safe. Interesting. Is it something new in the Japanese culture that I'm not aware of yet? Update me." Natsu exhaled and raised his face to gather himself before he struggled against the chains again, his neck as red as his face.

Goddamn.

"You assaulted me, you threatened us with a gun. Be thankful we didn't torture you."

"Yaay."

"Natsu-"

"Gray." Finally, Natsu locked eyes with him. No matter how much Natsu's pride and hostility tried disguising his fear, those green eyes were honest, they reflected that fear like a clear mirror. They also shredded Gray piece by piece.

"You're not my number one emergency contact. My dad is. He's the one he should be with me now, not you, alright? Second, you were talking to that monster. Third, you disappeared from my life long ago, why show up now? And look at me, is this how you're keeping-"

"-I know how this sounds like! I know. You have every right to react this way, but I'm telling you, I didn't know the guy was a psycho. Hell, we're not even sure it's him. I wish I had ignored that fucking call in the first place! Better a hundred times than this!"

"You…" Natsu's shoulders quacked, "How dare you…? You're conspiring against _me_?! I thought what happened back then was bad, but this… it's like I never knew you a single day! What the fuck do you have against me?!"

" **Idiot**!" Gray bruised his vocal cords from that yell, "You're not listening! If the blond and I wanted you dead, you'd be dead yesterday! He wouldn't have bothered to get you out of the hospital and no one in the force knows anything about it. He would've killed you after he'd gotten the info about your boyfriend!"

Natsu gritted his teeth, "Who knows what you twisted people want!"

If Gray talked with a wall, it would've listened.

 _'Calm down… don't murder him yet.'_

Natsu jerked his hands from the cuffs that his whole body shook, red marks that would turn to blue and green painted his wrists.

"Natsu." It pained him a whole lot to see the boy's hatred directed towards him, "I'm not gonna hurt you nor do I want to. Please, don't think like that for a second, ok? I don't know what's going on… and I can't do without your trust."

The pink haired boy's chest heaved with pants.

"You weren't there…" Natsu gaze lowered to the ground, "My bones… they hurt all over, I ran out of air, my lungs still hurt… I saw my life flash before my eyes in a millisecond twice... don't you dare ask for my trust when you have betrayed it once."

Gray clenched his fist around the silver keys, those words slapping him.

 _'I have never betrayed you. Never.'_

"Cool. Then stay there forever. Gonna sleep. Too bad, you could've joined me."

Gray thought Natsu's fear was a thin stream, and boy was he wrong. It was a violent waterfall. Gray left him cuffed for his own good… was it? All the logic and common sense urged Gray not to doubt Hibiki and the ambassador, but then, common sense never said Gildarts Clive was an abductor...

He needed sleep, he needed it like he needed breathing. The bed felt so good underneath his fatigued body.

A knock startled him.

"Yeah?"

"I take it didn't go well?" The ambassador questioned.

Gray hugged the fluffy pillow to his chest, "Yup. Here, don't need'em." He threw the keys in Jellal's direction and laid his head back, "Can't be helped."

"But… did you try your best?"

"Yup."

"That's strange."

"My voice isn't reaching him… nothing can be done."

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** In 10-20days.

WOOF Natsu! Great job bro.

 **Special thanks to:** Kori no Koibito (YEZZ MY GURLFRIEND, ZE plot IZ weird. Keep reading on, lots of crazy coming), deboome (Hehe, I'm glad you're saying 'tension', that means you're feeling it, and that's exactly what I want! There will be lots of it coming, and when it does, hopefully you'll like it!), MinaKushi4LIFE (You're the first person to say 'tension' and you made me really happy, like I could do something in my life the right way! Writing romance is always so hectic... but I'm glad you could feel it!), JChrista (I'm always so happy when someone is so pumped up for reading my... 'stuff', that's just... the ultimate feeling of happiness, thank you for your lovely feelings! I hope this chapter has succeeded in pulling you away from reality again... and sayonara... going to site after tomorrow...)

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	6. Chapter 6

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O ** **.o.**** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** S **i** x **O.** o ** **.** O**

* * *

Gray couldn't sleep as long as he wished he could because of a minor headache, the feeling it's not his home, a series of twisted dreams, plus overthinking about his managing director and his contrivance to kidnap his stupid friend.

His FUCK stupid friend.

 _"… Don't you dare ask for my trust when you've betrayed it once."_

Cold water soaked Gray's head that pounded. He dried his hair with a towel, and urged himself to go back to sleep and maybe he'd feel better, but when laughter traveled in the corridor, he steered himself towards it.

He was blown.

Natsu sat obediently on the beige sofa as Jellal rubbed some kind of ointment on his bruised wrists and later wrapped a bandage around them both. Their hands were linked, feather touches happened now and then. It made something in Gray flinch.

 _Stop smiling. Stop touching_.

Natsu should've stayed cuffed like he so deserved.

The ambassador stopped Gray as he was about to walk away and pretend he saw nothing.

"You didn't try hard enough."

Gray halted and a generic smile appeared on his lips, "You're too good that's all. How did he not accuse you of conspiring against him?"

"He did." Jellal smiled towards Natsu who shook his head, "We're past that, buuuuut the heated argument starved us."

What the fuck happened when he was asleep?

"Hibiki-san swore to cook only breakfast, I can't cook without destroying something, Natsu can't do anything with his state... sooo, you're our silver lining."

"Me?" Gray pointed at himself, "Can we order or something?"

Jellal laughed, "Are you kidding? We're trying to avoid communication at all costs, and the phones-"

"-Ah… right."

"Natsu says you're a great cook."

 _What?_

Natsu tugged at the bandages on his wrist and faked interest in them. OK, they used to live together, and Gray used to cook, but he wouldn't call himself a 'great' cook. Natsu would eat a dry pitiful piece of meat and say it's phenomenal. We're fucking talking about an AMBASSADOR with a _great_ class here. The award-winning chefs were the ones who fed this guy, and Gray is a fucking mere civilian with no culinary accolades.

"I… can whip up something, but… there's only so much I can do."

"Cool! Anything! I'm ready to help." The blue-haired boy hesitated, "But only with preparations… I have zero talent in the cooking field, you can't let me anywhere near the stove. You _can't_."

so what happens if you got food poisoned? Do you have any allergies—you know what? That's Gray shook his head, "… Ok, but you're warned, I can't cook that well. And… um. I don't know if the ingredients here are fresh, too much responsibility. I prefer if you let Hibiki-san make us sandwiches like those in the-"

"-Woah, Gray. Slow down." Jellal stopped him with his two palms in the air, "Hibiki-san won't do shit, he's so busy. Stop thinking too much! You're gonna cook, and it's gonna be okay, and just for your peace of mind, I don't have food allergies, so, anything's okay!"

Gray rubbed the back of his neck, still disliking the idea.

But… Natsu was probably hungry. He hadn't eaten-fuck.

There he goes again.

 _STOP thinking about that idiot. He trusted a complete stranger more than you!_

"Ok. Lemme go get my glasses. Be right back."

* * *

Strategic planning is essential for tackling tasks.

Gray and Jellal had an average discussion that lasted for over fifteen minutes about the food they should make, only to discover they're both idiots. Working around the limited ingredients in the house was far more important.

Hibiki said he had all the ingredients, they were all set for a decent meal, but that was quite misleading. If his mother witnessed what Hibiki defined as "all ingredients" she would go shopping for his sake. Canned food consumed most of his shelves: beans, tuna, corn—you name it. How did Hibiki live his life?

"You gotta be thankful okay? This is a safe house, so it has something. His place has nothing, he can't cook for shit, and his girlfriends feed him all the time."

"…" Gray recalled his conversation with Hibiki in the morning, "He says he has _none_."

Jellal held two potatoes in his hand… and those two potatoes blushed for sure. Jellal influenced everything this way with his gentleness and confidence.

"I prefer calling them girlfriends rather than something else."

"Will you be offended if I ask you to peel them?"

Jellal shook his head, "I'll look for a knife... or a peeler."

"There's nothing I can use for the salad. I don't understand how he made those awesome sandwiches in the morning…"

The ambassador shrugged, "Typical Hibiki-san. He likes breakfast that's all."

"Right." Man that was bothersome, "We'll do basic stuff… like rice, and we'll find a solution for those raw meat cubes, will that be okay?"

"I'll eat just about anything. Gray, it's so sweet of you, but don't feel pressured to impress me."

That little... if he wasn't an ambassador, Gray would've smacked the back of his head.

"I'm not…"

"I know." The blue-haired laughed while peeling the potatoes.

For being a smart-ass, Gray smirked internally when he gave him the carrots and onions to peel too. It was fun watching an ambassador holding back his tears because of peeling onions and then failing at it.

He rinsed the meat, seasoned it with the pathetic available herbs, and cooked it along with the onions and garlic. Gray preferred to have the rice white and plain, but the ambassador wished it'd have vegetables too, and Gray targeted pleasing him since he refused to cause a diplomatic dispute between Japan and another country for something as inane as a rice cooking method, so the result was a marriage between both tastes.

He stirred the tomato paste, seasoned it, added the bell pepper and carrots. After the boiled water was poured in the small pot, he added in the rice and cooked it on low heat.

"Estupendo! I'm so excited; it's so familiar to the rice we make in our region."

Why was an ambassador fanboying over rice? Gray resisted asking which country ambassador Jellal Fernandes represented since there was no way in hell he was the Japanese ambassador—he figured that much. The last thing he wanted was to sound offensive.

While Gray prepared the hot oil for frying potatoes, the aroma of the cooked rice and meat joined and awakened his appetite. Usually, the food he made himself wouldn't excite him, but he'd only had breakfast and he was more than ready to eat.

And someone **_else_** kept fixating on the two pots, even peeking at them, and Gray was scared that as soon as he declared they were done, Jellal was gonna steal them, run to his chopper upstairs, and flee from the country or something.

So he didn't say it was done. Instead, he handed Jellal a small plate with fries seasoned with salt and pepper.

"Ah…" The ambassador was caught off guard, and took it after seconds of staring at it with nervousness in his tone, "Was I drooling just now?"

He snickered, "Kinda."

"I'm not saying no to those. Gracias." He fed an ambassador fries… "They're crunchy and perfect—hey that's stealing!"

The blond snatched fries from Jellal's plate and munched on them.

"You're right! They're perfect. Be my girlfriend." He winked at Gray, "Sawww Hawwt."

"Shouldn't you be working?" Jellal asked.

"I was. Then I smelled food. When are you two gonna stop flirting and give me my food?"

The ambassador waved the plate around so that Hibiki won't get what he wants, "We're not flirting."

"Dude, Gray's wearing an apron on bare skin while showing off his cooking skills. He has just handed you a plate of French fries, isn't that the so… kinky?"

FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. Did that have to happen when an ambassador was around?! Where did that piece of shit go?

"Shit!"

"Oh, you're right." Jellal's reaction to Gray standing half-naked wasn't what he expected.

That wasn't important! He dashed out of the kitchen to find his shirt.

When he strode into the living room, Gray's body changed to a malfunctioning clock hands, frustratingly anchored in its place, and no matter how many times you tapped on the frame, it won't move.

Goddamn it, he should've grown out of this. The sight of the idiot sprawled asleep on the sofa shouldn't stir the fuzziness in his stomach climbing up to his chest anymore. His fucking shirt was on the armchair next to that sofa and all he had to do was get it and go, but his fucked up head kept saying, _go hug him, isn't he cold? Shouldn't you grab something to cover him with? One kiss. Just one, and he wouldn't know._

 _No, won't happen._

He had lost count of the times he had had the same emotional struggles with himself.

Aside from the brutality of those struggles, he was happy Natsu could sleep, knees pulled up close to chest, soft snores and all. He must have been drained after so many pull-ups, internal anxiety, tension. At least he felt safe enough to sleep in this house with those three individuals around him.

How on earth was Jellal able to convince him they weren't after his ass?

 _He trusts someone more than you. Great._

As Hibiki and his friend fought for the fries in the kitchen, Gray could barely move himself and even kneel next to his dozing friend.

Hints of strain tugged between Natsu's eyebrows, his bandaged wrists crossed one another. Why didn't Natsu believe in him and did in a random stranger? Jellal's persuasion techniques aside, he thought their friendship was strong to overcome any obstacle.

 ** _You're wrong._**

His fingers almost brushed against Natsu's cheek—

 _You're wrong._

Gray pushed his glasses, grabbed his shirt, and headed to the kitchen to finish what he started.

* * *

 **Narita, Japan – 11:30PM – Hibiki Lates' Mansion**

* * *

Gray has put the ambassador out of his misery when he announced that dinner was done and ready to be served.

While Hibiki distributed the plates, Jellal went to wake Natsu, and they both came around the dining table, smiles plastered on their faces.

Ok, he has to shrug off the stupid feeling because it affected his facial expressions, and Jellal was a good guy, he didn't want to put a wedge between them for no good reason. He didn't _own_ Natsu Dragneel. Never did, never will, plus, Jellal Fernandes was being friendly, that's all.

Right?

The blond jumped around, "I can't believe this aroma is coming from my kitchen. Did you give the girlfriend offer a thought?"

"Oops, can't. I'm high maintenance."

For the first time in the last five hours, laughter filled the mansion. The glass dining table didn't have fancy food, but the gathering was comforting. It made their life crisis easier. Gray distanced himself from Natsu as he sat next to Hibiki, across Jellal and Natsu. He avoided eye-contact, physical contact, any kind of help, and left him to Jellal to take care of.

Better that way.

"That juicy meat is mine!"

"Don't hold back and attack as hard as you can." Gray encouraged as he gave Hibiki an extra serving of meat.

"Wow… this is, yahii…" Natsu chewed, his right hand on his mouth, "So nostalgic…"

"Hmm?" Natsu has caught the attention of the ambassador.

"Before… we…" His green eyes sought Gray's blue ones which shut him out, "We used to live together and he would cook, so…"

Hibiki paused inhaling his food. He and the ambassador stared between Natsu and Gray in a way that shook Gray's grip on the fork. The gay drama earlier between Ondrej and Natsu has affected their perception of Natsu and any other guy, and fucking hell, of all things, he wanted this clarified.

"We're just friends. My place was closer to the university, so it was pretty convenient to share the rent and it happened for a short time."

He didn't see Natsu's reaction because he avoided it.

Jellal smiled, "It's impressive how you guys are still friends. I'd say you both should treasure each other because you'll rarely find loyal friends these days-"

"—loyal huh?" Natsu grunted.

 _"... don't you dare ask for my trust when you've betrayed it once!"_

Gray wasn't going to explain anything to someone who didn't believe in him anymore. That's a waste of time and energy. He simply shrugged Natsu's glare and continued eating.

Natsu waited for a comeback and raised an eye-brow when he got none.

"Kids…" The blonde's phone interrupted his intention at cooling them down, "Shit, excuse me."

"Natsu, was that Guinean?" Jellal deflected the topic, feeling responsible for the turn in the mood.

"Oh… yeah. Takes over once in a while."

"Understandable-"

They saw Hibiki dashing up the stairs, and into his workshop. Gray put down his fork and shared a stare with Jellal, "What…?"

The ambassador shrugged.

Hibiki came down with a large black backpack and threw a set of cards for Jellal to catch.

"Guys, we have information about Gildarts's location, and I need to be there."

"Hibiki-san, wait!" Jellal stood, "You got a location, so what?"

"It's not an ordinary location, and I really can't explain, I have to go. I'll update you as soon as I can. Take care of the kids for me."

* * *

They deserted the cold food on the dining table. Although Hibiki didn't explain his abrupt actions, he alarmed them all, and the safe house didn't feel safe with him gone.

Jellal's fingers hovered above his phone's screen, hesitant. In the end, he dropped it and stared at his laptop's screen, his chin resting on top of the back of his hand. Natsu sat on the sofa, his two hands clasping and antsy, worry flickering in his eyes.

 _Guys, sheesh._

It was stupid worrying about stuff he shouldn't worry about yet. He tried that shit before, and it was terrible, it poisons the mind and body.

Gray wrapped up the dining table and the kitchen. Of course he had his own questions. Hibiki left tons of them unanswered, it irked the hell out of him, but it's not like he can do anything. To ease up the situation, Gray grabbed the apple juice carton from the fridge, and poured three glasses for the guys and himself.

He placed one next to the tense ambassador who showed a thin smile.

"Gracias, Gray."

"You're welcome." The ambassador's voice wasn't as strong and confident as it was before, and that _bothered_ Gray, "I have no freaking idea about what's going on, but I hope it'll be okay."

A hint of a smile crept to the ambassador's cheeks as he nodded.

"I gave you a job. So far, you suck at it."

He did his best recalling 'the job', earning a gentle laugh. Jellal's fingers pointed in the pink haired boy's direction, "Natsu, remember? You're ditching him big time."

"Ahhhh." Gray shrugged, "He thinks I'm on the other side, this is for the best, trust me."

"Your jealousy is outstanding." The ambassador whispered, then chuckled at the flush that burned Gray's face, "Can you try a little harder for me?"

Gray pushed his glasses back and held the two glasses of apple juice, "Why would I be jealous?"

"I'm not gonna have this conversation because you damn well know why. Now, do your job, and let me do mine."

They shared one last challenging look before Gray sighs and walks away with the two glasses.

Chaos roamed in Natsu's head, which was nakedly jumbled for the entire world to see. He pressed the chilled apple juice glass above Natsu's clenched jaw, receiving an immediate gasp. Natsu blinked, and when Gray pressed further...

"Ok, ok ok!"

Natsu accepted his glass and his gaze returned to the white tufted carpet.

Gray nudged Natsu's leg with his foot, "Move."

The pink haired's answer was a dumbfounded look, one that was cute.

"Come on, move."

Natsu scooted over in a snail's speed that Gray didn't wait. He tossed himself on the sofa and pushed Natsu and inch aside, gulping the content of his own glass as the warmth of Natsu's arm kissed him.

"Drink your shit."

Natsu nodded and stayed there, focusing on the floor.

His intentions were to lighten the mood, to assure Natsu he was safe and nothing bad was gonna happen, but he forgot an important point. He might be the source of Natsu's worries and scares.

Shit, he was stressing the shit out of his friend with his presence, judging by the stiff muscles of Natsu's arm against his own. That's the _opposite_ of what he wanted.

He should go.

Gray's knee bounced, then he stood.

"Sit." Natsu commanded, eyes on the floor.

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"Sit."

He wasn't Natsu's dog, but the urgency in his voice made Gray comply without arguing.

He had a feeling he didn't want to listen to this.

Natsu's adam apple moved down, "I was an asshole to you, but I hope… you can understand."

"Apology not required." He rubbed the back of his neck, "You have every right to think the worst of me. I didn't exactly prove otherwise, so it's okay."

"Don't…" Natsu licked his lips and sniffled, "I'm serious…"

"I'm serious too. I accept the part where you said you were an asshole though. That's good enough for me. Future blackmail material."

" _Oh_ ," Natsu stung him with his irony, "We both know who the real asshole is."

"Of course. It's you." It's a fact, ok?

"Shut up."

"Love you too."

"Stop that!" Oh, he loved how those cheeks turned red for him. He wanted to touch them.

They fell into their old, relaxed, best friend-y selves they should be, and nothing made him happier. Natsu's earlier accusation lingered, and he hated it, but he accepted to be blamed for it. Gray believed nothing can hurt him so much after those three years of getting accustomed to the pain, but he was wrong.

There was one thing he needed to admit to himself and Natsu though. And he needed to. At least this.

"Hey Natsu…"

The pink haired's eyes questioned Gray.

"I missed you. Quite a lot."

 _'And then some.'_

Natsu's cheeks and ears turned from pink to red.

"I give up…" Natsu placed his glass of juice on the coffee table with the marble top and rubbed his face with both of his hands, "I don't understand how you think… first, you abandon me, and now this? Why don't you-"

The ambassador's phone's ringtone startled them.

Maybe that was what they called, a sixth sense. He _wasn't_ Spiderman, and he had no freaking idea what that phone call was about, but the hair on his neck stood. Unlike him, Natsu didn't look backwards where the phone ringing persisted, instead, he transformed into a gypsum sculpture.

Even Jellal stared at his phone, taken.

The 'crunch' of breaking glass snapped the hell out of them. Jellal had been absent-minded when he reached to answer his phone, so his juice spilled and he ended up staring at the mess he created and his phone.

Gray pulled Natsu with him towards the dining table as Jellal answered, his phone on speaker mode.

"Hello-"

 _"Listen, listen to every word! Take the Land Cruiser and evacuate **NOW**!"_

"…"

His heart skipped two beats at the panic in Hibiki's voice because… if Hibiki panics… what does that mean?

The three stared at each other, almost paralyzed.

"What happened—is ever-"

The defense Intelligence general cut Jellal, _"Shit! I said listen! Do as I say and head south! Take them and GO!"_

"Sh-should I-?"

 _"ARE YOU MOVING?!"_

Oh, this was bad. Not only Hibiki panicked, but the ambassador's confidence and demeanor received a visible fracture. He was _shaking_.

Jellal closed the laptop he was working on, and stuffed it into his backpack along with several files, one of which had proof Natsu was innocent.

"Okay, okay, I'm on it—my laptop-"

 _"IDIOT! LEAVE EVERYTHING AND GO!"_

"Donedonedone!" Jellal had carried his backpack and strode to exit the house, "Gray, follow me!"

Gray dragged Natsu as they rushed behind Jellal who led them inside Hibiki's massive garage. Five SUVs stood in a line, and Jellal headed for the black one, dumping his backpack inside.

What was happening? What were they doing? Where are they going?

The seatbelt wasn't the only thing tightening around him, coldness did too. The pounding in his heart sped up when the vehicle's engine stirred to life.

What were they doing?!

"I'm out!"

Both Gray and Natsu's heads bumped against the front seats when Jellal's foot slammed the accelerator.

"South, south-south where?!"

 _"To the airport smartass! Jesus!"_

"Mierda—what's going on?!"

" **SPEED BUMP**!" Gray shouted—his eyes widening to the fullest as Jellal hit the brakes to avoid the awkward speed bump in their way. And for the second time, Gray's head bumped against the front seat, his glasses fell—somewhere. Jellal winced from the seatbelt's clasp around his waist and the tires screeched.

Jellal shouted big foreign words, and Gray assumed they were curses.

 _"Oh honey!"_ Hibiki yelled, _"Stop your gibberish cause I understand jack shit, are you alright?!"_

"Fuck…" Jellal hit the accelerator again, "Not really! Why aren't you talking?!"

 _"He used a fucking bait to drag me out to get to you… when I put my hands on him—I'm on my way! Eve tells me I'm thirty minutes away from you."_

"He? He?!" Natsu didn't show his fears, but as he said those words, so much panic clutched at every letter. He has experienced enough hardships over the last three days, so he could only predict the worst coming.

And Gray hated that. How useless was he?

"Fuck… my stomach…"

Even if Gray wanted to relieve Natsu's transportation sickness, this time he can't, and Natsu has to suck it.

Are you serious? His managing director was chasing their ass around? Are you fucking serious?!

"I knew something was off!" The ambassador yelled, "You should have fucking told me before you took your little stroll!"

 _"I had him under surveillance! What more did you want me to do?!"_

Gray's body was falling down from a high skyscraper. He drove cars before, and wanted to test how fast they can go, and now he got the chance to see for himself, death approached them and FAST. At that freaking speed of 240 kilometers per hour, the ambassador would see nothing ahead, and they would never know what hit them as the field of vision narrowed.

"Hibiki-san…" Jellal dropped the speed of the car to take the turn, then picked it up, "That's not you in the back, is it…?"

 _"… **No**. shit, no. SHIT! Eve, fucking drive, he's behind them!"_

Natsu's head whipped to the back, and so did Gray's. The headlights of the vehicle that followed were far and progressed forward with each second. Jellal was forced to lower the speed once and again to take a turn and noticed how the black SUV in the back caught up.

"Shit…"

"Where the hell did it go…?" The ambassador looked in all the mirrors, but like a ghost, the vehicle evaporated and it was no longer existing.

Confused, Gray exchanged a look with Natsu that said _'What the hell is going on?'_

Natsu dropped his head down and did his best not to puke before he looked at his right.

"Right…" Natsu held on tightly and ducked, "Right! YOUR RIGHT!"

Jellal was less than a second late.

The black SUV with the metallic claws, sped and smashed against their right vehicle's door, where Jellal drove.

He couldn't tell how many times did their SUV roll around after it had flown across the street. The front glass, driver's window, and Natsu's window, shattered. It stopped swerving when it hit the trees and the ambassador was rendered lifeless with fresh blood oozing from his head.

 _'Fuck…'_

* * *

Gray could open his eyes and come back to his senses because of the constant loud dinging of their vehicle, and the horrible kerosene-smelling smoke. It was as if someone laid a fat piece of burning coal on his lungs. He continued to choke and splutter, the grayish mist pulling his life away, and crushing his insides.

When he unbuckled his seatbelt that hurt his waist, sharp pain resonated through his left shoulder and blood splotched his shirt, where did it come from? Was it from him? Yes, but he couldn't tell where….

He kicked the remnants of what was once called a 'car door' open, with the bit of energy he had left, and again, the pain shot through his leg and shoulder.

Despite that, he coughed as he unfastened Natsu's seatbelt. Red stained the guy's right side of the face and forehead from several glass piercings.

"Natsu…"

 _'Shit…'_

Gray didn't want to nudge the boy anywhere, in case he had an internal injury other than the superficial ones showing.

"NATSU!"

He thought shouting would bring Natsu's life back somehow, and it did. The pink haired moaned, coughed, and moved, holding his head. Shards of glass slid across his chest and fell.

The worry about Natsu's well-being was less severe than the ambassador's since the hit he received was direct and accurate.

Don't… God... Jellal didn't deserve any of this…

Gray dragged them both out of the smoke-filled car, every movement triggering pain in a different limb, and spurts of electricity shot in the back of his head, ringing.

 _Concussion._ He has a fucking concussion.

They both had blood stained shirts and skin. Natsu fell on the ground, coughing the gallons of smoke he inhaled, his injured elbow almost showing the bones. Gray limped to the driver's seat, to check on Jellal. Oh the pain was unbearable, his organs, muscles, bones, it all screamed and protested as he moved.

And he was the least one damaged.

Each step took a toll, and the silence of the ambassador had scared Gray.

Shouldn't he be groaning or coughing like them both?

Shouldn't he be struggling physically?

Shit, please, _no_.

Gray halted when a hole of a gun almost touched his nose.

"Hello kiddo."

A long black coat covered the figure of a man he has always admired, the same one who stabbed Gray with devilish eyes that possessed a hint of azure insanity.

His throat lost all the moisture, his eyes won't blink, his mouth won't speak, his sense of time stopped when an unknown force chained his feet to the soil, giving him a false illusion of standing there for a lifetime instead of five mere seconds. The hair on the back of his neck stood, and coldness engulfed his organs while he viewed the world in gray-scale.

He hoped he had farsightedness. Seeing the main culprit was worse than the gun in his hand.

The man rotated the gun, "Get down."

He would _love_ to do that. One problem, his body did the exact opposite.

"I need your friend that's all. I won't harm you, so get down."

"But you'd harm him?"

FUCK, he can _speak_?

"Depends." Gildarts shrugged, "I gave him several chances before, but he won't take them, so yes, I'll harm him."

"… Chances?" So fucking him up at the airport and the medical center was called 'several chances'?

He picked up Natsu's harsh breaths and rustling behind.

"Kiddo, come here and get into the car. You and I need to have a long nice talk." Gildarts ordered Natsu with a rigid voice.

 _'Motherfucking bastard.'_

How that garbage spoke, it made the paralysis in Gray's body break. Yes, he faced death. Yes, the back of his neck throbbed. Yes, there was a tear in a different part of his body with each limp he took. But _no fucking way_ was he giving Natsu up after he has just got him, and especially, not to this piece of shit.

He limped all the way back and glued his back to Natsu's chest.

"He's fine here." He added malice in his tone, "If you want him… you'd have to kill me first."

"Gray..." Natsu pushed at his back, but Gray rooted himself where he was at, and stopped Natsu with his barely moving arm. "Move, Gray, move!"

His cutting stone glare battled Gildarts's silent blank one while Natsu kept trying to pry Gray off, still coughing the smoke from earlier.

"Forgive me." Gildarts sighed, "I lied."

What-

A silent bullet opened a hole in his leg, slamming his body against the ground. A cry of pain burned and pushed past his throat as his breaths quickened. He could taste the soil, and if he hadn't seen the guy shoot him the leg, he would've imagined a chainsaw cutting through him.

"Gray!"

Natsu kneeled next to Gray, cheeks scratched and bloody, his face white, and his eyes fearful and big. He shivered all over, standing slowly to grant the man his wish.

 _'So not gonna happen, I just got you.'_

Through the pulsing hole of agony in his leg, Gray pushed himself to the absolute limit. He pushed Natsu with his arm to the back and used his uninjured knee to support him in front of the boy.

"I said… nghh… he's not-not…n-not going… not…"

"He's going."

Another shot crackled, and Gray predicted his death.

But it wasn't directed at him.

In their minced car, the ambassador held onto a gun while blood covered his head. Could he even hold onto a gun?! Shit! He needed treatment and quick.

The old managing director pointed the other armed hand towards Jellal Fernandes in the car and fired.

 _'NO!'_

The gun fell from Jellal's hand and his body was in sharp torture as he struggled to breathe. Shortly after, another bullet was fired and pierced through Gray's shoulder.

Needles prickled his body as he fell on the ground.

He can't… anymore. He just can't…

But he's not dead. And he promised Natsu wasn't going with that man unless he was dead.

"I BEG YOU STOP!" Natsu yelled.

The world rocked sideways, and blackness fought to take over his vision, but he fought it hard as fresh tears fell on the ground while his chest tightened.

 _'In the end, I can't do anything… Protect him? What nonsense… you can't even protect yourself… you're a worthless piece of shit…'_

"I'll go! S-so stop… just… stop…"

Gildarts nodded, "Come over."

Natsu dropped himself next to Gray, whose body couldn't struggle anymore. His green eyes had collected so many tears, and several fell, staining Gray's shirt. The warmth of his hand contrasted the coldness of Gray's cheek.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please, god… I'm so sorry!"

As Natsu stood, Gray kept repeating _No, don't go, don't you dare_ , but his pleas and threats weren't heard.

"I like you when you're cooperative. Come over here kid."

"D-Do…n't…!"

He won't forgive Natsu for this, never. He heard the door of the SUV closing and one last word from Gildarts.

"Thank you for bringing him. I knew I could count on you."

He knew it… this was all his fault. He trusted someone he shouldn't have. For that, he gets to lose the most important person… Gildarts should've killed him. Gray can't survive this, he had to die…

The ground vibrated against Gray's body, and chopper blades drilled through his ears.

It was a car engine from afar, getting clearer, closer, greater.

Was it one car? No… two… Maybe five?

And two shots broke in the air.

A sharp scream cut through the brittle bones of Gray's body, but it was one that didn't belong Natsu. At the same time, the helicopter landed.

* * *

Somewhere, Jellal's brittle laugh broke as he coughed blood.

"You… idiot… late… so…"

* * *

Hibiki stood next to Gildarts's electrocuted Unconscious body with a demon's glare that no one had seen on the General's face before.

* * *

Officers and paramedics rushed towards the injured, transferring Jellal and Gray's stretchers to the helicopter emergency service that immediately flew towards Kameda medical center.

* * *

Natsu's tears haven't stopped as the paramedics tried helping with patching his most fatal wounds from the car collision. He sat, knee pressed to his chest, refusing medical help while entering a state of hopelessness.

* * *

 **Narita, Japan – 3:00AM – Kameda medical center**

* * *

Eve patted Hibiki's shoulder. The blonde had lost his marbles as he looked at the ambassador connected to so many tubes. Eve himself has been speechless since and Hibiki said nothing but 'fuck'.

"Shit… I should have been in his place!" Senpai yelled.

Eve wanted to calm the blonde, to say 'it's no one's fault', but words won't come out. He could only watch the scene and not blink for a long while. Jellal Fernandes wasn't only a dear friend of Senpai's, but also, the Spanish ambassador, and his battered state will shake the Japanese-Spanish relations.

They were in deep shit. Especially, Senpai.

"Hibiki. He's ready for interrogation. Come." Ren called at the frustrated blonde.

Senpai faced him with clenched fists, gritted teeth and a murderous intent.

Eve pitied Gildarts-san. Senpai has never shown this kind of attitude before, and it was just… bad news.

For _everyone._

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** In 10-20days.

Err... Yeah. Bad stuff happen?

 **Special thanks to:** deboome (Yes, that's a very rational way to think about things. It has happened to me once, not kidnapping though, but when you see someone pretending to be something else... it's... CREEPY. Hope you've had fun reading this one.), Kori no Koibito (Well, he could be? Could be not? Then again, who am I to spoil the whole thing for you? relax and wait for it.) JChrista(Errr… more trembling heart and emotions this chapter? I HOPE SO, but well... part of being a writer is writing things... like not very good things and events. Sorry... also, I'm really happy you want to know more about Gray and Natsu's past. That's a good sign you're willing to go through a backstory! You could read the next review reply to I LOVE UKE NATSU to understand what I mean.), I. LOVE. UKE. NATSU. (Yes, their story will be revealed... but like... in time, if you know what I mean. Like you need to be... super willing to go through a backstory. Personally, I hate backstories... but it's necessary for this one, and when it comes in time, I feel more motivated to read it... Hopefully when the time comes, you will enjoy reading it. Your enthusiasm is so cool! Enjoy!)

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	7. Chapter 7

**Author Notes:**

I officially apologize for not posting within the promised period. GUYS. I'm… SO sorry, especially for the 'Guest' reviews. The delay happenend for these reasons: I was travelling back and forth between two cities for work, and then I traveled for an unexpected vacation. Also… MORE work. I could've gotten this chapter posted a month ago, but I couldn't let it go without editing and refining it more. I hope it was worth all your wait.

This chapter is too, too long. I had debated cutting it off into halves, but I figured I should compensate for the delay, so essentially, I'm giving you two chapters!

This chapter is also one of my favorite chapters. I enjoyed writing it and I love it because it has that development in Natsu's and Gray's relationship! I hope you like reading as much as I enjoyed the writing.

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O ** **.o.**** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** S **e** v **e** n **O **.**** o ** **.** O**

* * *

"Dude, I'm bored. It's been so long since I've checked my Facebook account."

"Fuck you. Facebook account my ass."

Natsu snapped, "I HAVE ONE."

"And I have a Snapchat account."

"Fuck if you have one. You don't tell your own mom what goes on, and you'd tell the world? So messed up."

"You get my point."

"I have a **Facebook** account."

"No, you really don't."

"I do."

"You don't."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"YES."

"NO."

"Yes."

"YOU DON'T HAVE ONE."

Natsu spoke between his gritted teeth, "FINE. Man, my twitter is flooded by now-"

"Stop the BS."

"How can you be so sure? Huh, tell me? How?-"

"-Who in their right mind will follow a pink head slanted almond eyed-idiot? The answer is no one—except your Guinean buddies and your black boyfriend."

"I know I feel sick, but I can still kick your fucking ass for that racist comment."

"Wanna go down the road where we argue for an hour about how this isn't racist and just ironic?"

The wavy road they drove through, rocked them sideways, up-down, frontwards-backwards, and they were heading for the top-or the other side's lower part, who knows? The plum trees, bushes, yellow flowers, all shifted to blur through the windows as the Land Cruiser sped towards its destination.

"Man, this thing between you and transportation is still fucking hilarious."

"What? Don't you notice the remarkable improvement?"

"Yeah. Like I also notice the lifeless eyes."

"Shut it. This road isn't recovering-motion-sickness-people-friendly, ok?"

"Dude… this is Japan, why don't you go back to flat Guinea where you oh so belong?"

"I swear to god-!"

The driver's foot pressed on the brakes to climb yet another route. As a result, Natsu's body jerked forward, and Gray held the boy's waist before he bumped his face into the front seat. And oh-boy, the stiffness of Natsu's abdominal muscles spoke about a brutal workout routine. The curiosity of assessing the quality of chest muscles, biceps, triceps, and lower-much-lower abdominal ones controlled his palms.

Before he rips the idiot's shirt apart and indulges himself in a sinful act, he shoved the hazardous body away, and strapped the seatbelt around Natsu's waist.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

"It's a seatbelt, not a hentai tentacle dear."

Natsu shifted between the seatbelt and his seat, "I don't need it, okay?!"

"There's something wrong with you! You almost fucking bumped your head."

"This 'seatbelt' culture is stupid. It means I don't trust the driver and it's rude!"

"Fuck, WHAT?!"

"At least that's what it means in Guinea."

Ok, CALM THE FUCK DOWN, breathe and don't strangle Natsu, you like his sexy muscles.

"Really? Why don't you stand in the long ass line of people waiting for me to give a shit about your damned morals of your damned to hell nation?"

"What. Did. You. Say?"

"What. You. Heard."

"Anooooo…" The short blonde guy in the front seat interjected, raising his sunglasses, "Are you really in your early twenties? Hibiki-Senpai told me that… is it true?"

The raven-haired driver's snicker embarrassed them. Why did he let Natsu's bullshit rub off on him?

"Ah… yes… I'm twenty-four," Gray pushed his glasses back, "He's twenty-three."

"Hoooo." Amazement shone in Eve Tearm's deep sea water eyes, "Your energetic selves are impressive. What was that—? Oh yeah. Young at heart."

"Aha-haha… thank you." Natsu replied, rubbing the back of his head.

They exchanged glares of _look what you did_ , then shoved their heads away, observing the green mountain's scenery.

Two months and a half post (Gildarts the Villain MD), _which should be the title of his life two months ago_ , Hibiki directed them to stay hidden for god knows how long, god knows why. Hibiki had too many irons in the fire after that incident to answer questions and Gray understood nothing, but refusing the government wasn't an option, so he submitted in reluctance and Natsu followed by default.

Eve Tearm, and Ren Akatsuki were Hibiki's contacts who escorted them from Fukuoka's airport and drove them miles out the city.

The Land Cruiser slowed until it halted because of the closed road, and the traffic police scattered to regulate the path of the honking vehicles.

"Shit…" The driver removed his sunglasses, "I totally forgot. Was it today? Shit."

Eve Tearm shrugged, "Yeah, I forgot too. Well, that's a half an hour break."

"It's gonna be unprecedented if it's only half an hour."

"Let's hope for the best."

Ren reversed to park the car. He exited and talked to one of the traffic police officers while Eve unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Guys. We'll have a break. If you wanna stretch your legs, this is your chance."

"Ah… Ok." He could use a whiff of fresh air. Natsu dashed to it before he did, jumped on the paved ground where fallen leaves cluttered and inhaled as much wood-scent freshness as he could.

"Thank the gods. I was so close to puking."

He shook his head and marveled at the sight of plum trees as their light pink tinge was fading. Ren talked to the traffic police and Eve joined him, and Gray was curious.

"What do you think is going on?" Natsu stretched his arms above his head as he rotated his torso.

"If you don't know, why would I?"

"Where do you think we're going?"

"Seriously?"

"OK FINE." Natsu almost smacked Gray's shoulder, except that he didn't. He pulled back his palm at the last moment, "Is it better than the morning?"

Underneath Gray's cream T-shirt, there was a bandage wrapped tightly around the injury the bullet left behind, and it almost healed… almost. His eyes darted to Natsu's bandaged arm and snickered, "You should ask yourself that…"

Gray came to know that his motherfucker MD could track them because of a nano-tracker one of his accomplices implanted in Natsu's body when he was attacked in Kameda Medical center. Removing the tracker from Natsu's shoulder and entire system was another minor surgery he had to undergo.

"Gray." Natsu's voice resembled a hard paved surface. Not allowing for resilience, bickering, or smart-ass comments. It demanded the answer Natsu searched for, and won't settle for less. Also, it was weak and worried.

Gray being Gray, he didn't give a shit.

"Are you worried about me?" Oh, this is so much fun.

Natsu threatened him with his fist, "You wish! I need to know when I can beat the shit out of you liberally."

"Hmmm. So you're _worried_."

Natsu paused before his mouth opened to slam an answer in Gray's face. The look he gave Gray was one saying _I'm not worried, I'm killing myself with worry and stress over you, but I won't fucking say it, cause of pride._ The first time Gray saw Natsu after the incident, the boy had lost so much weight, had dark bags under his eyes-basically, he was the basic zombie of Plants vs. Zombies. Not even the badass one with the metal bucket over his head. The idiot refused eating, sleeping, _showering_. Gray was the one who brought misfortune upon Natsu because of his relationship with Gildarts, not the other way around. They have had so many (fruitful and non-fruitful) chats the past month and a half until Natsu returned to the land of the living.

"I-"

"Don't fight kids."

The blonde and his companion joined them, and unlike Eve's chill attitude, Ren was uptight, hands in his pockets.

"Multiple trucks are moving a special item into our base, so we gotta wait. They're almost done, but since we're very free, we figured we'll give you kids a few tips."

Natsu and Gray listened as they appreciated the cool breeze.

"I'll leave this to Senpai, he'll do a better job than me in breaking this down. Senpai, please go ahead!"

"Whatever." Ren said, "Listen up. It's so simple that a squirrel can get it."

Sweet.

"Don't ask _why_ , don't say _no_ , don't reply with _huh_. Don't engage in sexual activities with any of the girls—or in your case, _guys_ inside. Don't laugh openly at someone when giving you instructions, and don't respectfully decline to take part in major training events—like, you'll be setting yourself up for bullying. Questions?"

Gray raised his hand and Ren nodded.

"We're civilians, why should we abide by military rules? Or why are we expected to?"

"As this guy said, these are tips. If you show you're giving a courtesy to the people inside, you'll be respected a notch. No troubles and all that."

"—For your information, I could be engaged in sexual activities with girls." Natsu cut in with a sly smile.

"Whatthehellever. Don't do relationships or sex inside. It's complicated, and neither of you can bear the repercussions of dating a militant."

"Sounds challenging." Natsu rubbed his chin in a way that says _I'm all fired up_. And Gray could only shake his head. As always, trouble attracts Natsu. Then again, military girls would be all fit, tight, and dangerous. He exchanged a look with Natsu who shared Gray's thoughts and both broke into heavy laughter.

"Kids…" Eve Tearm shook his head, "Don't even think about it… speaking from an experience…"

Natsu whistled, "Care to share?"

A loooooooooong heavy sigh tore Eve as it came out, "Let's say, it won't be pretty when she hears you cheated on her as she's deployed on the other sweltering part of the globe-"

Ren held Eve's shoulder, and nodded, "-She'll track you down like a vindictive bitch, haunt you while you're eating tacos at a random Mexican restaurant, making an example out of you in front of your peers."

Eve threw himself at Ren's chest and faked crying.

"YOU FUCKING DESERVED IT YOU ASSHOLE!" Gray and Natsu yelled, irritated as hell.

"Not when I expressed my intentions of wanting an OPEN relationship. Some females are hard to fathom. They go with the flow, then they end up getting hurt…"

"Yiikes!" Natsu slapped his forehead at Eve's logic.

Ren cleared his throat, "Digression aside, your protection is guaranteed. Just follow the rules and everything will fall into place."

"Protection from what?" Gray raised the question that has been bothering him for days.

Eve said, "Hibiki-Senpai will contact you and explain. We're his messengers, and that's it, sorry. Aside from these tips we shared, you'll pick stuff up yourselves on the way."

The desire to drill Hibiki's ears with profanities heightened. One fine day, he showed up and told them they'll enroll in a witness protection program for WHAT?—no idea. WHY?-no idea. And that they'll travel to Fukouka—and that's it.

If Natsu hadn't gone all the way to fucking Guinea, he'd be playing online war games, and not on a trip to a creepy place.

They discussed further until the traffic police informed Ren they can pass. This 'special item' was so special they've closed the road for two hours or more, and the endless queue of vehicles with angry drivers that almost stretched from Fukouka till Tokyo lessened as they removed the offending temporary gate.

Intimidated by Ren and Eve, the traffic police prioritized their exit, which was cool and fucking illogical. Why would anyone be intimidated by the cute thing that is Eve? _Not that he's complaining_. At least they got to escape the congestion.

Long live Defense Intelligence agents, bless you all, shameless womanizers.

Natsu wasn't cooperative when it came to the seatbelt, but Gray forced it on him.

"Hey."

"Mhmm?" Gray looked at his friend.

"You didn't forget about your promise, did you?"

"What are you talking about?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow and combined it with a glare, "Playing dumb much?"

"No. Dude, what are you talking about?"

"Remember you said you'll tell me everything after we're done from all the shit?"

Fuck. Right. He did, _right._

"Oh." Gray pretended to be interested in the beautiful landscape, "Sure."

"When?"

"It's not gonna be right now. Talk about reading the atmosphere."

"Yeah, but when?" Natsu pressed, his emotional side surfacing, and that wasn't good.

"Once we're settled. I'm not running away, we're stuck together for an infinite amount of time."

Natsu tsk-ed and rested his chin on his palm as he watched the scenery next to him, "I hate you."

"Love you too."

"Fuck you man."

"You don't want me replying to that."

"Shut it."

"You started it! You should have the balls to continue."

"They're attached tightly under my dick, very much there." Natsu whipped his head towards him, "But if we continue, I'm gonna crack your skull."

Eve sighed.

Almost three years ago, Gray made a choice to leave Natsu's life. He'd debate the sanity and the correctness of that choice often, and he'd shrug it since he regretted nothing. A part of him hated explaining to Natsu because of the grave consequences, the other part wanted the heaviness off his chest for good.

Getting shot and involved in Natsu's affairs wasn't so bad. It restored part of their relationship, but Natsu held a part of him back from Gray. He won't look Gray in the eye for over two minutes, won't chatter freely with him about stupid nonsense he bothered him with before, won't use violence (that was Gray's last hope of physical contact), and it was a miracle they could still bicker.

FYI, Natsu used to fucking sleep on his lap, so this underlying tension and caution in Natsu's treatment made him stand and say _Are you fucking serious?_

It's true that Natsu felt indebted to Gray after he'd taken two fatal shots for him, but that didn't nullify the negative effect of Gray's actions towards Natsu in the past. Natsu wished to understand, and it was fine, anyone in his position would want the same thing.

You can't be brothers one day, and the next, your brother is shutting you off, deserting you, treating you like a damn stranger. That shit is crazy.

There was ONE fix. Saying the truth—and oh god, how difficult and cruel the truth always is. But there was no escaping it, if he wanted things to be like they once were.

Natsu was lost in the green mountain's scenery, his pink hair floating around since he insisted on opening the window half-way to breathe, he pulled his kissable lips in a thin line, and if they were anything like before, Gray could caress his soft cheek and it'd be fine. Tsk, why was this happening to him? Why was Natsu so goddamn beautiful?

They passed through two main security gates into the Blue Pegasus military base as Eve briefed them. The guards requested all of their IDs, including Eve and Ren's. When it was verified, they removed the automatic security bollards so that their vehicle passes.

"Wow, another one so soon?"

Eve laughed, "This place is fortified because it hosts not only VIPs, ambassadors, and entrepreneurs, but also lots of secrets—we're here. Kids, let's step out for a minute."

They exited the Land Cruiser. A blonde with an average height waited for them to show up with his arms crossed. A formal white collared shirt defined his fine-toned built, his black tie hung above his black pants belt, and his hands were in black gloves.

The sharp stone blue judgmental eyes made Gray shift. He did nothing wrong, right?

Eve and Ren saluted him, and the blonde did the same, though a frown covered his face. Behind him, an intense line of solemn soldiers stood, and maybe he was their boss.

"IDs?" The guy said.

Eve handed him their IDs and the weapon licensing paper. An intense loud-whirring that drilled his ears pulled his gaze towards the sky where a squadron of aircrafts rocketed. The nine aircrafts maneuvered around the military base's buildings singly, and then reunited in one path through the higher altitudes. That air force formation impressed him and he didn't want to lose a second of the show.

Was it a show? Or was it training?

"We'll field-strip this vehicle."

Back to earth… He will do what to the vehicle?

Eve nodded and Ren got out of the way. One soldier behind the blonde drove their car into a small workshop.

"These two, physical search."

"That's fine. Be mindful with Gray, he's got two recovering gunshot injuries."

The guy nodded.

Eve retreated and spoke to them, "Guys, don't worry, it's only a procedure."

Eve explained that its protocol, but that was a shitty one. With his instincts of self-preservation intact, his muscles quivered as his palm turned into a fist in his pocket.

"Girls that way, guys that way."

Natsu tapped his foot on the paving, his voice deepening, "Where're the girls again?"

"Oh." The blonde approached Natsu, "Turns out, you're a guy. Interesting."

Natsu's entire being reddened as he froze.

* * *

"Stop laughing, ASSHOLE."

Gray was a laughing mess in the Land Cruiser.

The pit of his stomach throbbed with pain, his lungs struggled with a little air in them, and his jaw fucking hurt.

"…" Gray couldn't stop his sharp intakes of air, or giggling.

Girls… pffft, girls.

"That guy! How dare he?! Such a motherfucking asshole! I'm more of a guy than he'll ever be!"

Natsu's voice shook, his foot stomping on the vehicle's floor. Eve chuckled, and Ren had a smile fighting to be noticed.

"Ah well, don't hold a grudge! Sergeant Sting Eucliffe is so strict when he's on duty. He's a nice person when you get to know him on a personal level…"

"Like I want to! YOU! OH MY GOD, STOP LAUGHING!" Natsu smacked Gray's head, "This physical check was the worst! My knuckles itched to knock off those looks of contempt! What did I ever do to that guy?!"

Gray practiced inhaling and exhaling to save himself from choking and dying.

"You done?!" Natsu asked.

Gray smirked, and whipped his head back to his window, observing the squadron of aircrafts flying by.

What were they doing in this place?

'Sergeant Sting Eucliffe' had his staff provide Natsu and him with new phones which can only make calls, send texts—no images or video storage and sharing, after they had synchronized the contact lists between their smart phones and those basic ones. Back to the **twentieth** century bullshit. And it didn't settle in Gray's stomach well.

Hibiki better explains to them soon.

* * *

Natsu fumed, "I'm so hungry I could eat all those security guys."

Yeah, Gray was hungry too, not the kind Natsu experienced though.

Snickers sputtered out of him, "Watch it boy. They're too old for you to wish for that."

"Fuck you." Natsu cursed.

"I mean you have been with an older man for a long time, so it won't surprise me."

"Watch your—Fuck me, is that… another gate?"

Gray banged his forehead on the glazing of the window.

Natsu breathed, "Man, talk about tight security, this place is like an airport or worse, a prison."

"Step out of the vehicle."

Gray and Natsu were thinking, _'Been there, done that.'_

Eve laughed nervously at the guard's command, harboring sympathy towards the _kid_ s who got checked physically, _again_. The biggest dilemma was when one of the security guys pointed out guns existence in their belongings, making Eve unfold a long explanation about Hibiki Lates, and how the guy PROVIDED them those, and the written confirmation from their headquarters.

Which fired up an argument. Because Gray wasn't _that_ mature, and Natsu was starving, they had _remarks_ about the issue at hand. Said **remarks** weren't welcomed, and they should've known better.

"Man, we've met your obsessed pals five minutes ago, and they had passed us. I don't see why this is a problem?!" Natsu spat.

Eve's sunglasses fell at Natsu's objection, one that kicked the 'tips' he had given before entering their military base in the freaking _balls_. The poor blonde paled, but for the first time, Gray agreed with the way Natsu handled things.

"So rude. We have our own… Sergeant, what was it called?" An idiot subordinate asked their Sergeant.

"Lily, it's called jurisdiction. We have our own jurisdiction-point." The idiot boss answered.

"Right… Sergeant Gajeel Redfox, is it?" Natsu's eyebrows twitched, "That fucking jurisdiction is within the same three hundred meter radius from the previous gate point? You gotta be kidding me."

"I hate to say I agree with him. They have judged that these guns are allowed inside, and now you're telling us you're gonna confiscate them. Is this some joke?!" That was the kind of support friends should give to one another.

Bravo, Gray.

Ren took liberty in blocking Gray's blabbering mouth with his hand, and Eve waved around to cool the situation.

"We can't let these go inside. What I say is final even if the five previous inspection points have approved."

"Of course! We'll follow whatever your point requires, it was our fault." Eve sweated and rubbed the back of his neck while calming the goddamn gorilla of a man.

Natsu entered Sergeant Gajeel's personal space, his eyes tightening, and ignored Eve's hand sign of _NO NO NO NO_ , then spoke through his teeth, "Quit your stupid obsessive self and give us our belongings you hedgehog head!"

All the security staff (Seven in the count) stared with protruded eyes and dropped jaws at Natsu, while Eve was fainting. Such ill-manners he has shown would condemn him with a serious penalty.

"Fucking dictator. Come on!" Gray shouted.

Eve fainted and Ren struggled to support him.

The staff surrounded both with looks of pure contempt.

" **Get them in my office**." Sergent Redfox's stiff, loud voice ordered as he retreated inside the small building.

"No!" Natsu objected, "Why should we go anywhere? I'm asking you a question here!"

"Move!" One of staff pushed Natsu forwards, and the other kicked Gray's **injured** leg.

Gray fell, squirming in pain. His injury hasn't healed fully, and that slight nudge was in the wrong irritated spot.

"YOU! YOU! YOU! I swear I will kill you! You fucking dick!"

Without a second thought, or even a slight comprehension of the consequences of his preposterous actions, Natsu jumped on the guy who had committed the sin of kicking Gray's leg and beat him to the ground. He punched him hard in the jaw, and his mates haven't gone to watch the scene before them without returning the favor.

Before they knew it, Natsu was kicking, punching, and burning the security staff with his blazing anger… and they fought back with equal ferocity.

 _'Fuck…'_

Gray was horrified, Eve's soul ascended to heaven, Ren's following not so far behind.

* * *

 **The Pegasus Compound - 4:00PM – Sergeant Redfox office**

"You two clowns…"

Sergeant jackass's nostrils flared, his sharp eyes widened, showing the horrifying whites of them (They were HORRIFYING). Natsu has showered him with many cool gifts. Oh yeah, starting with the red bruise adorning his chin, then with the one pulsing on the bridge of his nose whenever his heavy hatred-rigged breathes fumed, and above his right eye. On his forehead, too.

The office was filled of groans and coughs. Sergeant jackass's subordinates were in no better shape, and Natsu got one of them limping. If the Sergeant and his subordinates could devour their visitors alive, they'd do it.

He thought he imagined it, but… Sergeant Sting's building and this office had the same smell that was a blend of freshly washed clothes, newspapers and petrol.

The cold metal around Gray's wrists strapping him to the back of the chair was alarming enough for him to stay quiet. Unlike Natsu who has won a scratch mark on his cheek, and a freaking busted lower lip, Gray had no bruises, but the injury in his bent shoulder and leg stung insignificantly.

Natsu's breaths were as heavy and hot as the Sergeant's. Apparently, Natsu has made a vow to himself to win the most offensive and challenging glaring contest of the year with the Sergeant, and help their case less.

Fuck, this thing went out of proportion. Did Natsu have to fuck their first debut in a military base?! Dude, it's not a school, college, or a bar. It's a military base where they have **internment** camps. And for what?! Gray made a fucked up to death girly whine when someone kicked his leg—doesn't mean he was dying!

YES, YES, AND YES to restraining your overprotective buddy.

The Sergeant tossed a registration document on his desk and flipped the pages, "These idiots who came to this inspection point… I haven't experienced such lunacy even by the criminals who came seeking our protection!"

He tossed The record on the floor, in front of them.

A part of Gray didn't feel guilty whenever that demeaning tone bit them in the ass, and his belittling crimson eyes charred them. The guy was part of the problem, HE provoked them.

"If it weren't for Hibiki Lates, I would've ripped both of your balls."

Natsu scoffed, "Oh, you could try."

"AHAHAHA-! Sergeant Gajeel! We apologize for the MASSIVE inconvenience! We'll do what's necessary to compensate." Eve interrupted Natsu's introductory line for making it to the internment camp.

"Be thankful. If the secret squirrels weren't here, no one would hear from any of you again as you earn your rights to be one of the real, full-fledged, evaporated society… especially **you**."

Natsu smiled wryly as if the Sergeant has complimented him and Eve was a nice a guy, but he was a nice guy who wanted to strangle Natsu Dragneel at that moment. The troubled blonde spent maximum efforts to get them out of the shit hole that Natsu dug, but Natsu shrugged off his efforts, and kept digging painfully _deeper_.

" **You chose to be vulgar** , so in return, Hibiki agreed your weapons are all confiscated. Now…" Gajeel breathed while maintaining his glare at Natsu, "Any further comments, and the weapons won't be the only thing I take away, and you both will end up in the internment camp."

After another hour of lecturing and reprimanding, they trudged their way out of the lion's den, and towards their Land Cruiser.

As the 'idiot subordinates' were getting their car from the 'inspection', a feather-warm touch latched itself onto his healthy arm. He stiffened, rotated his head slowly to find Natsu wrapping both of his hands around his forearm, a fearful look in his green eyes, and a faint tremble in his chin.

"You… okay?"

Natsu's concern radiated hotly from his touch. He was okay. He had completely forgotten about any sufferings as soon as Natsu touched him.

GOD, this was getting worse. He needs to stop thinking about kissing his friend whenever his face came into the line of sight.

"Jesus…" Gray jerked his arm from the innocent touch and injected irritation in his tone to cover up the sheer happiness of having Natsu worried about him, "You need a goddamn leash."

As they got into the Land Cruiser, Gray didn't miss the ashamed blush on Natsu's cheeks.

* * *

Eve drank water as a headache blossomed in the back of his head. Ren drove in silence, and Natsu fixed his gaze on the glazing next to him—WITHOUT the seatbelt. Sighing, Gray figured, if he as much hinted at the seatbelt issue, Natsu would strap it around Gray's neck in that dark mood.

"Kids… get out." Eve Tearm's voice scratched at his throat and faded out before the blonde intended to.

They grabbed their suitcases and backpacks which dropped a lot of weight after Gajeel Redfox had confiscated their weapons.

That part of the Blue Pegasus military base had several Tuscan style small houses, but not many. Those were probably special housing units built for specific purposes and people.

Eve and Ren led them to one of the small two-story houses. It welcomed them with its cool breeze, white painted walls, foyer arc, and sandy-brown floor tiles. They all rested on the comfortable white L-shaped sofa in the living room, sighing as if they traveled close to eight thousand miles.

"This is unit 8, your new stay." Ren placed two cards and a key onto the glass surface of the coffee table, "This is for accessing the unit, and this is for the Jeep in the garage. You can use it however way you want, as long as you're not exiting the military base. You know… just stay away from any checkpoint and you'll be fine."

Gray paid attention, but Natsu? Not so much.

"Where can we eat?"

-Oh yeah, that was _so_ crucial if you're Natsu Dragneel.

Some things just don't change with age.

Eve shook his head and adjusted his back, "If you take the Jeep, head where you can see the big building on the right, and ask when you get there about the mess hall which will be next to it. At six-thirty they'll serve dinner, so you guys have to wait for that."

" _Great_." Natsu tossed his body backwards, "We're gonna die."

"You'll be fine, I brought Oreos." Gray sighed, "Eve-san, I'm so… sorry about the trouble earlier. We… got carried away."

Eve couldn't glare, he was a nice guy, so he pouted, " _Got carried away_ is an understatement. You guys… this unit 8, this house is Hibiki-Senpai's unit. It has all the weaponry in the world for protection, that's why none of us argued with Sergeant Gajeel. We were only trying our luck, and it was an experiment, let him confiscate his toys, so what?"

"WHAT?" Natsu's body jerked forward as if he got struck by lightning, "Why didn't you tell us earlier?!"

"We wanted to be secretive and have you guys show your natural reaction, and we were fools! Lesson learnt."

Gray's ears were searing hot.

 _'Shit…!'_

"We're sorry."

Eve stared, expecting an apology from Natsu who blushed until his cheeks matched the color of the crimson fabric of the sofa's cushion.

"In my defense… I didn't know…" Natsu stuttered and Eve still stared at him with a raised eye-brow, "Sorry…"

The blonde sighed, and stood up with Ren, "We'll take our leave… **remember** , this is Hibiki-Senpai's unit, so careful. There's a laptop in the study room that you can use, you'll find the weaponry in the study room, and this…" Eve gave them another card, "… will allow you to access part of it, I don't trust you with the other part. You have our numbers, if anything came up, call. Ah-almost forgot… there are surveillance cameras outside, and in the foyer… for your safety."

Gray nodded and followed Eve till they went out.

"It's that big building, ok?" Eve pointed where they could get food, and Natsu nodded, remembering that building for life.

"Kids… stay safe and don't cause trouble. You're already in Sergeant Gajeel's bad books, and you don't wanna make it worse."

Once the two defense Intelligence agents left, Natsu tossed his weight on the white sofa and released the loudest sigh ever.

"Maaaaaaaaannn, I'm soooo beeeeeeaaat... and so hungry…"

He watched for two minutes the bigger squadron of aircrafts dance in the skies with quick heart beats. Look at these talented guys. The sole downside to this was the whirring and banging noises.

Two handbags, two backpacks, and two suitcases... man. They needed to unpack, but that can wait… he would need a fresh change to shower first. The new stay looked great, but they went through too much bullshit to care.

"Gray, WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

It was a muffled shout because Natsu has laid on his stomach and buried his face in the red sofa cushion. And YEAH, when it comes to food, Natsu shows a dramatic attitude.

Instead of rolling his eyes at his friend's crumbling psychological state, he cleaned his blotched glasses first, then fished in his backpack for the Oreos packet (It's in his belongings because Gray knows how Natsu can be, don't judge).

He almost nudged Natsu with his foot to accept the packet when he… couldn't.

Between Natsu's washed blue jeans's waistband, and his slightly pulled pink Rayon T-shirt, the gorgeous crest of Natsu's back was bare. It was so beautiful.

The crème beach sands skin tantalized Gray's fingers that wanted nothing more than tracing that nice crest curve, definitely give that ass a hard squeeze, flip Natsu over on his back, kiss him, love him, and…discard every piece of meaningless clothing. Let his lips spread kisses and explore Natsu's hot chest till it sinks in between his hips. Would Natsu moan his name when his mouth melted him? Would he arch his back and push further into Gray's mouth? Oh, he'd like that.

He needed help, big help.

Red smoke pressed on his lungs. The blood rushed to his face, and the Oreo packet fell from his hand.

This is the most fucked up situation ever. Living with Natsu was like dieting, and then someone places a fucking giant black forest cake baked with the finest Bulgarian chocolate with cherries on top in front of him. People! Gray would want to have that black forest cake, okay? That's just wrong, it can't happen, and just NO. Clearly, Gray has upset whatever force ruled this world, otherwise why would this happen to him?

He could imagine himself from this moment onwards suffering enough the coming weeks.

He gave himself a good slap on the forehead, then kneeled to retrieve the Oreo packet. Fuck, people should've thought of making sexual commercials with Oreos long ago.

First of fucking all, calm down. So you're having another 'want Natsu so badly'-moment, so what? You've maintained your cool all those years, don't waste those efforts and-and you're _way_ stronger than this.

He wished to kick Natsu for what he's constantly doing to him, instead, he nudged his leg with his knee.

Natsu sighed, "Fuck off Gray. You're the source of all my stresses in life."

Gray nudged him again, forcing him to release a guttural grumble.

"How flattering. I didn't know I took so much space from that floppy disk of a brain you have."

"Don't… even… start being a smart-ass. There's no space in here for your bullshit, alright?" Natsu unburied his face and narrowed his eyes at him as his cheek rested on the cushion.

"DUDE, you were born to stress the hell out of me. Don't get me started on that!"

The pink haired's figure slumped, his voice losing the grumpy edge it possessed before as he recognized Gray's hidden lines.

Point A - I get a FUCKING phone call telling me you're arrested at the airport.

Point B - I get ANOTHER fucking phone call telling me you're attacked and in a medical center.

Point C - I'm fucking jobless, thank you very much.

Point D - I got shot in the ANUS by my managing director for you and maybe gained a mental trauma on the way.

Point E – I had to tell mom I'm receiving mental treatment under the Sakura trees—and of all places on the planet, I chose the sticky humid scorching Okinawa that I like to call 'the devil's home from all those cartoon shows'. SHE KNOWS I'M LYING. My lie can't be any more blatant.

Had enough? Thought so.

"I had never thought I'd say this, but I hate the telepathy thing going on between you and me at this fucking moment."

Well… Gray wasn't annoyed or stressed by the aforementioned points. He breathed the same air as Natsu and they were together, what more could he wish for? Everything was perfect.

'Together' as in two best friends sharing a living space _temporarily_. He REALLY tried his hardest at fighting off Natsu's stinking pheromones.

"Here."

Natsu huffed and let go of the cushion to accept the Oreo packet. "How can this substitute food?"

"It's better than nothing, no?"

"Do you not have any rice crackers?"

 _"Do you not have any rice crackers?"_ Gray mocked and hoped his face wasn't still red from the previous imagery, "Beggars can't be choosers."

The pink haired grumbled, then sat, and pulled his knees to his chest as Gray moved to sit two meters far where he can calm the fuck down.

Natsu opened the packet, and as soon as he munched on the biscuit, he flinched and held the right side of this chin, wincing, "Fuck…"

"What's wrong?"

"Gajeel Redfox."

He examined with his eyes the problem which was the idiot's busted lip and maybe a potential fracture in his jaw. Gray would shrug it off on a normal day because Natsu always got himself into stupid fights, but NOT this time. Natsu wasn't shot like Gray was, but still, he had minor fractures in two ribs, a severe burn on his right arm, and the tendon connecting his arm with his shoulder was torn after the Land Cruiser's accident.

Natsu was a hundred times better now, but, again, Gray hates to have him physically hurt at this stage.

Gray took off his glasses and rubbed between his eyes, heat gnawing at his gut, "Dude… I know you love me so damn much, but that was a _disaster_."

Natsu chewed, challenging the pain in his lip to satisfy his hunger, then stared at Gray with a raised eyebrow, "Pfffffff, someone needs to get their ass off their shoulders. The guy was freaking annoying, alright? It has _nothing_ to do with you."

"You didn't get physical until that guy… did what he did—and I appreciate that, I really do, but Nat, you fucking did a number on the guy. AND Sergeant Jackass. AND his freaking staff—that's-"

"-So what?" Natsu stopped eating and rotated himself to face Gray, "You got shot twice for me. You think I'll ever accept that? What I did isn't even a tenth of what you'd do."

"—Ah-"

" _Ah_ —what? What?! If you're gonna scold me for what I did, you better be ready to time travel and stop yourself from taking the shot for me."

Natsu's shoulders trembled, faint red in his eyes, chest puffing with dense breaths. As the warmth and care of those words touched him, he wished to dip in and kiss the pain away from the bloody corner of Natsu's lower lip.

"So that's it? You're paying me back?"

"…" Natsu's scoffed, but his voice softened, " _No._ "

"Then what?"

"Dude… What's **wrong** with you? Stop being a flippin' idiot. I don't need a fancy-ass explanation for wanting to do things for you! Like you don't need one to get shot for me! In case you still don't understand, It all comes with the friendship package."

Natsu was beyond crazy. That's right, he IS crazy. His tenderness blew Gray away, but… how can he still consider them friends? Not only that… the adoration in Natsu's voice reverberated in Gray, and _NO_ , he wasn't just hearing things.

He _wished_ he was.

"God! What are you shocked for?"

After all the pain inflicted upon Natsu… how was it _still_ possible?

"You're insane… after what I did…"

His friend left the packet on the coffee table, drawing in a long breath and releasing it before he spoke, "I don't know what happened… what made you leave me like that, but... I haven't stopped thinking about it. I thought it was something I did, but when I couldn't think of ANYTHING, I was furious. I wanted to hate you so bad, I even tried. I kept repeating 'I fucking _hate_ him', but whenever you popped in my mind, I… just couldn't, and I kept asking why? Why? Why? _Why?_ "

Yes, Natsu should've hated him. He _had_ to.

"I'm not an idiot. You wouldn't do this unless you've a compelling reason. Gray, for fuck's sake, we faced death together, you got **_shot_** for me. Do you really think what you're withholding from me is greater than that? HELL TO THE NO. And if you… don't want me to torture you to death until you say it, you talk to me, okay? There's just nothing you _can't_ tell me now and you _know_ that."

The whirring of the air-force's squadron struck for seconds, the same ones that his heart melted in.

Fuck… did the day come where Natsu has got valid points and they make sense? Ok, a terrifying natural phenomena will happen.

"I dunno what to say…" He licked his lips, "Thank you Nat… for not hating me. It means so much that you still think of me as a friend."

"Dude, you've got issues. Serious ones. You're more of an idiot than I am, you know?"

"No… you're too kind for your own good."

"… And?" Natsu waited for something else. The tough talk that Gray didn't have the heart for.

"We'll talk about that later, ok? I promised."

"I believe you will. I trust you."

"Thanks…"

Natsu hopped from his seat, breaking Gray's personal bubble as he sat right next to him, gluing their hips.

 _'What…'_

And just like that, Gray found himself wrapped in a tight bear hug.

"You know…" Natsu had a light shiver in his words and hold, "You're so close, then you're so damn far. I… I hate that. Stay with me, okay?"

 _'Kiss him. Say okay, and tell him how much he means to you. This is a fucking opportunity, so_ _do it.'_

That kind of thought occurs whenever Gray sniffs the saltiness of Natsu's sweat mixed with his vanilla scent, or when that warmth of his body rubbed Gray's.

And like a champ, Gray reeled himself away.

 _You have just got him. Do this favor to yourself and don't blow it up._

He allowed himself to pull Natsu's waist closer to him, and hold the back of his head with fondness. Damn, he liked this guy so much it hurt. He wanted him to know, to answer those… desires and feelings and color Gray's world.

"I'm gonna have to tell you to let go now, my shoulder fucking hurts."

"Shit!" When Natsu pulled away panicking, his cheeks were blazing, "Sorry."

"Dude, it's okay," Gray smiled more, "Must be tough loving me so much."

"Fuck off." Natsu returned to his seat across, reached out for the Oreos, and resumed munching on them.

His eyes stung with warmth as he attempted to laugh. Natsu was... incredible, the best friend that anyone could ever have.

"These are great, you want some?" The pink haired offered.

"Nah... I need to shower."

"They won't be there after you're finished."

"That's okay. Enjoy man."

He took his backpack and escaped. He closed the bathroom's door upstairs, then his steps seized, and his stomach felt rock hard.

They had to live together…

 _'Shit... shit… no, not again... god…'_

If they had to live together, again… how is he supposed to control the feelings he once repressed if Natsu's mere voice undoes him every time he speaks? He remembered how pathetic he was, how he was reduced to nothing but a stunned statue whenever he came in contact with Natsu's rich vanilla, fresh sea breeze scent.

How was he supposed to survive this horror?

* * *

Gray drove the Jeep Wrangler Sahara model, humming, and grinning at how empowering the vehicle was. Baby, he was on top of the universe. He'd always wanted to drive the Rubicon model, but this was just as awesome.

This is a true life thrilling experience.

"You like that, huh?" Natsu shook his head, strapped by the seatbelt, and safe.

"Yeeeeeeah. It's cool, isn't it?"

"I'll kick your ass if you have so much fun and damage your shoulder, or WORSE, miss our dinner."

"Relax, we'll be there."

When they reached the building Eve pointed at, they debated about asking one of the militants about the mess hall, or finding it themselves. Lastly, Natsu thought it'll be faster if they ask and targeted one girl for information (as per Gray's instructions).

A few minutes and he came back with a wide grin, "Ok, it's so close. Go straight, and first right."

"Aye, sir."

Gray parked, and together, they entered the hall. They could smell the Japanese curry from a mile away along with other scents and it was so enticing that Natsu drooled. Chatter, laughter, and even quarrels resonated in the hall as groups of soldiers swarmed in to be fed.

 _'God… it's like they came out of a hunger epidemic…'_

But then… Natsu also gave off that vibe—and he disappeared.

What…?

The pink head of Natsu wasn't missed. The fucker had left his side and was ordering food.

Man.

If he wasn't so adorable, he would've received a kick in the ass. He joined his friend at the service counter and started choosing his food. The big cafeteria had a Japanese style dinner for the night, and they got to know their menu changes every day, which was a good thing.

With a great difficulty, they found a place to sit and have their food as it was packed.

Natsu's cheeks glistened and radiated red as he devoured his food, nodding to give the chef his approval on the meat and potato stew.

"It's so good, I'll cry."

Gray laughed and dug in. He had known he was hungry, but not THAT hungry. But then… the chopsticks halted in his mouth as his eyes widened.

"What?" Natsu looked at him, puzzled.

"Don't look ok? Sergeant Asshole is like three tables behind you…"

Natsu choked on the rice, and pounded his chest, "—Fuck!"

"Shhhh! Idiot!"

Natsu drank water and ducked his head, "Dude! What are we going to do?"

"Your fucking neon pink hair is gonna expose us…" Then Gray remembered that Gajeel Redfox could bully them to pay back this afternoon's favor, "... You know what? fuck him… we did nothing wrong anyway. Just don't look behind."

"…Ok…?"

They both sighed, and resumed eating because their stomachs grumbled, and hoped a miracle will happen and Sergeant Asshole won't spot them because they weren't in the mood for another round of beating.

Their wish was granted. They finished their food, then bought juices, mineral water, snacks, and just like cartoon figures, they snuck out of the facility, and into the Jeep.

"Drive and never look back!" Natsu commanded.

They laughed until they lost their breath while Gray reversed and headed back to unit 8.

Natsu said, "Confiscating our weapons after they were approved? And saying they have their own jurisdiction point my ass."

Gray shrugged, increasing the speed, "Everyone has a job to do. His job is to annoy people, can't blame him for that."

"Man." Natsu sighed, "I wanted to have at least one gun to practice on you."

"And I wanted the knife for that same reason." Gray smiled.

"Fucker. You know, when I was in Guinea-"

Gray glared, "What? You used to shoot other people?"

Natsu nodded, "Not quite. We used to go hunt our dinner, it was so much fun."

Gray rolled his eyes, "I know. You also used to paint your ass up green color and dance around the fire like a damn psycho monkey. Wait, you also used to sing like one."

Natsu's body went still. He then folded his arms over his chest with a burning glare that flickered in his eyes as Gray drove with no care in the world.

"There is more to Guinea than painting your ass, dancing around fires, and all the stupid shit you imagine."

" _Right_." Gray snickered, "Like, Ondrej Jeremiah? Because as far as I imagine, there's nothing else. Oh wait, does that glare mean you feel like you actually belong there?"

The irritation that Gray saw in Natsu was real. It wasn't like the superficial one when they joked around, this was… genuine. Yes, he provoked him, but he didn't think the other will take it to heart.

"When you like a person, you would love their origin too. Something you might never understand."

Ok, Natsu was spitting fire at him, and it _scorched_.

He chuckled, "True. I was pulling your leg. So now your Guinean self can't take a joke or what?"

Natsu remained silent until they arrived to unit 8 after Gray confused his way to it. When he parked, Natsu slammed the door shut and walked away.

Gray's eyes widened as he leaned on the Jeep, shaking his head at Natsu's mood transformation, "Jeez. What did they do to him there?"

He took his time to enter and spotted Natsu. He stood in the kitchen, waiting for the kettle to heat water, and Gray wasn't sure how to approach the fuming 'Guinean'. Like _hell_ he was Guinean. In fact, he wanted to irritate Natsu more with that topic because he was curious about the country that Natsu felt he truly belonged to.

"Sooooo…"

"Fuck off." Natsu didn't even look.

"Hey, are you serious, Natsu? Fuck. I think I deserve more than that for the shit I have been through for your sake."

Natsu threw the teaspoon and spoke in a tight tone, "Are you blackmailing me now?"

"Dude. Chill-"

"No! You listen!" Natsu's face was red like it would burst as he approached Gray with hostility, "I didn't ask for your shitty help! In fact, I remember the first time you came around in the airport, I clearly said, FUCK OFF! It was YOUR decision and no one else's!"

Gray leaned on the wall with a careless expression, "Why are you taking it so personal, Natsu? You know I was joking, right?"

Natsu stood red in the face, clenching his fists with stiff shoulders.

"It was my decision and my decision alone to help you. I know that much. I couldn't leave you. I would never do that."

"Yeah, right!" Natsu shouted, "Like how you did three years ago?! Stop contradicting yourself, you asshole! The reason I went to Guinea in the first place was to forget about you! To have a new start and to help my friend!" Natsu held his head, "Fucker, god!"

"Whatever." Gray crossed his arms on his chest and sighed, "Blame it on your dear daddy who threatened me to back off in exchange for your freedom. Remember that incident with the drug dealers?"

Gray wish he could keep this forever to himself, but having Natsu think he abandoned him, was way too much for him to accept, and the words were out before he could take them back. His best friend stood petrified with widened eyes.

"Anyway… dude. I'm tired. Oh hey, didn't mean to offend your country, was just joking and shit."

Gray turned the other way to go sleep everything off, but Natsu grabbed his arm.

Ok.

The night was gonna be a long one.

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** TBD. This chapter is already written. It needs editing, which will take sometime, I don't want to promise a time and go against it again. My (expectation) is 15 days, subject to change.

 **Special thanks to:** **Guest** (You're correct. Natsu speaks Fulani here, but as Jellal isn't sure which native language Natsu is speaking, he says 'Guinean'. I hope this clarifies? Let me know if you have more inquiries!), **Guest** (Thank you so much for following this story so avidly! Extremely sorry for the delay! I hope you enjoy this lengthy chapter!), **Guest** (I'm happy you wanted to read in less than 20 days, and love you too, haha. I've assigned 20 days that time because I knew I'll be traveling so I couldn't be consistent with my editing… turned out to be 3 months of fucking writing deprivation… I'm so sorry. I hope this chapter compensates for my sins!)

 **Jchrista** (Phase 2 starts with them living together soooo! This part won't be as frustrating, right? I hope. And it's really interesting that you feel symphathy for Gildarts...), **mdelpin** (This is actually the first story that I had to do a lot of planning and drafting for… it was really tiring, and what you're reading is probably the 5th/6th version. So I'm glad you're enjoying it! Let me know how you feel about them living together!), **Kori no Koibito** (Girlfriend! Don't hate Natsu! Natsu is so innocent in this story. Gray's tormenting him actually! Yes… Gildarts… not cool…)

 **DragonFire44** (I love all your comments. Your takes on what's happening and what should be happening is wonderful. I think you're probably an amazing Author. And YOU HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS I JUST WANT TO ANSWER BUT I CAN'T! Hehe, you'll have to read on to figure it out. I will answer one comment though. Yes, I wanted to write chapters from Natsu's point of view which would have been amazing, but to avoid so many repitions and plot details, and a lengthier story, I chose to go with Gray. To be honest it's a mistake, but yeah… I learned. Anyways! I know I've already contradicted your expectations of the story, but I hope you'll still enjoy it.)

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	8. Chapter 8

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** E **i** g **h** t **(** A Lifetime Lasting Friendship) **O.** o **.O**

* * *

 **When Gray left Tokyo because of his mother's demanding job, he predicted life transforming experiences, and hard as it may be, he had to suck it up and adapt.** He'd meet new people, create new friendships, maybe he'd get himself a girl, or face educational challenges with new teachers.

Certainly, establishing enemies wasn't on his 'life transforming experiences' list.

Gray knew in the depths of his heart, that his respected classmate "Natsu Dragneel" sat a ticking bomb in Gray's system that would detonate one day and startle many.

The guy lived in another realm with aliens on planet pluto, far, far away from earthian schools with crucial milestones like pop-up, mid-term, final term exams, and spent every day of his youth to the fullest with other aliens like him who dyed their hair for no reason.

Seriously, they went overboard with the tri-gay-colors. Dear alien, pink? Of all colors you dye your hair pink?

Not only did Natsu Dragneel overlook school exams, he also disturbed their classes with his stupid pranks and jokes with his friends. Ever since Ur had adopted Gray, and bothered to put him through the educational system, he always aimed to excel. His young teenager mentality wanted to prove to her he's worthy of her attention and care, not that she needed him to do that. She was a beautiful being who loved him for who he is, no matter good or bad was his grades were.

If Natsu and his friends targeted disturbing their classes, then how can Gray pass through the year with his grades in mind? Their teachers avoided involvement with Natsu and his other alien delinquents because 'no good' came out of it, and left Gray to endure Natsu Dragneel's bullshit during an important class.

Not even six months in the new high school, and Gray fantasized violence at spotting that pink headed alien-moron. His jaw pained a lot from clenching it whenever the idiot screwed up in class that one day he decided visiting the hospital to do something about it.

And when the bulletin board announced their grades, he almost cried for Natsu's ones. Fuck, he was failing alongside his delinquent buddies, and they were proud of it. They high fived each other and all that.

He was told Natsu Dragneel was rich, he didn't need education or school life, he came for the fun of it—well that was horseshit. Natsu wasn't rich, his father was. Fucker has to build himself and—

Gray slapped himself for caring.

Focusing in class failed, and his inability to understand complex algebra equations while Natsu and his nice friends discussed their youthful lives in the back has led Gray to an outburst.

"Could you cut the bullshit? There are people here who actually want to learn."

His out-burst that glorious moment in their school's history injured Natsu Dragneel's feelings. Their teacher froze, his sleepy classmates woke up, gaping at his blatant display of courage. And yeah, they exchanged insults first, then it escalated to rough chest-jerks which led to an eventual punch-up.

The principal had to come down to separate them and reinforce order.

Since that commotion, their awareness of each other's existence amplified, and their verbal fights continued whenever the class was ongoing and he couldn't focus. Gray wasn't intimidated by those freaks to stay quiet like all the cowards did.

Sadly, Gray and that alien shared Taekwondo club sessions and the walk home, that's how much God held a grudge against Gray Fullbuster.

The delinquent had seen in Gray the perfect rival since the day of the outburst, and Natsu only cared about his club activities. Emphasis on ONLY. That's why, Gray had more and more bruises every other day, and Natsu did too.

Taekwondo is a tough sport. And… Natsu graduated from a mortal enemy to an unhealthy rival.

As for that walk home, Gray cringed whenever he spotted the rouge pink hair as he dragged his feet to get the walk over with. It ended up being a rivalry walk home-freaky shit, Although they walked on different sides of the two-ways road.

Wasn't it enough he saw the bastard at school?

One day God gave him a break, and there was no PINK on the other side of the road. Oh, that feeling was indescribable. He resisted showing the 'V' sign out of nowhere, or even hugging a random stranger passing by, and settled for a beaming face, and slight teary eyes.

He bought his favorite Vanilla Ice-cream to celebrate this one day of coolness and enjoyed it as he walked. Two blocks later, his elation took a different road and left him to deal with the most heartbreaking breakup ever.

"I heard myths about Natsu Dragneel, and I never imagined you'd be a disappointment."

The uniqueness of the situation pushed Gray to hide behind a random apartment complex and watch. Six delinquents of the neighboring school gathered around the pink haired delinquent of HIS school. Natsu's head bled, and the prominent black bruise under his eye was actually funny.

He sucked his vanilla ice-cream and thought about this tough situation. Your school's delinquent versus other school delinquents… which to root for? He didn't respect both, but something in that setting made him inclined towards rooting for Natsu. The guy frustrated and riled him up all the time, but he was harmless. He bullied no one, he picked up fights with people his own size, and he posed as a domestic cute delinquent who cared less for school grades.

Thinking about it, Natsu had many friends and Gray didn't.

Go fellow school delinquent!

They fucked each other up while he rubbed his chin. Natsu had beastly strength (The fucker gave him black eyes on a weekly basis in the Taekwondo sessions). How did they fuck up his face? How did they stand a chance?

Natsu's labored breaths were bad news, he held his arm in a way that signaled a minor twist or a fracture, and his reflexes slowed. Gray gritted his teeth on the ice-cream stick.

The pink haired continued to fend for himself, then one of the six wore a malicious smile, grabbed a long steel bar, and sprinted towards Dragneel's back.

NOT ok, not cool.

Dragneel froze. His head turned in slow motion to gape at his back where Gray held off the steel bar with both hands and struggled. At that moment, two things hit him.

One: The heat Natsu Dragneel's back radiated was beyond him.

Two: For fuck's sake, he practiced Taekwondo, why did he take so long before using it on the motherfucker? His foot possessed sufficient force to tear one or two organs.

His leg rose to push the steel bar and the delinquent away from him, and his… idiot classmate…

His pure classmate-delinquent didn't acknowledge dirty fighting, and that's how they surpassed him. When they practiced Taekwondo, Natsu never cheated, tricked, or fooled anyone because he didn't need it. He was more than capable of sending a few people to the infirmary because he practiced hard and won fair.

Natsu was focused and dedicated when it came to something he loved. Gray respects him a little because of that.

One guy dashed towards dumbass Drganeel who was distracted by three cute pink pigs flying behind Gray.

"IDIOT! THE FRONT!"

Natsu blocked the punch directed at his stomach in time. HA! He saved him for a second time.

HOLY SHIT… why was he proud of it?

The delinquents had accused Natsu of being a coward. With Gray's interference in the fight, the torch of rivalry between them bit Natsu's ass, and forced the boy to push himself to the limits, thus, they finished the arrogant pricks in no time.

Natsu spoke between pants, fresh blood oozing from his head, "… Hey, you're not a bad guy after all. Thank you."

What the **fuck**?! So Gray was viewed as the villain all along?! Fuck, he almost got a stroke hearing that.

"I have two contradicting feelings... I don't know whether I should use this situation as future leverage, or just rape the fuck out of you right now."

"But… why-why d-did you-do it?" Natsu said after choking and coughing, trying to catch his breath.

Gray picked up his bag. "Forget it! I'm leaving!"

"No, wait!" Natsu grabbed his forearm and panted, "I'm serious… why?"

Gray glanced at Natsu's scratched hands, his neck with the red marks… one of his eyes had red spots in the whites of them… he should've killed at least one of the six bastards.

"They were fighting dirty, and I didn't like it, that's all."

"…"

 _'Nobody fucks with you but me…'_

For the first time, Natsu laughed for him. Natsu laughed all the time everywhere to everyone. Gray didn't see it in person before. When Natsu laughed, stupid stars twinkled around him, and he blinded people with the way he shined.

"Thanks!"

He wanted someone to bring a rifle so that he could shoot himself for saving the piece of shit in the first place.

* * *

At their usual practice at the taekwondo club, Gray had had his first clean (as in no hard feelings) match with Dragneel. He was supposed to feel relieved, however, the change fluttered his stomach in discomfort. He was fine detesting Natsu, he knew how to handle that.

He didn't know how to handle a… domestic Natsu Dragneel.

The cool water fountain soaked his head after the muscle crippling practice… he drank a bit, and nothing was more refreshing… and his mood was supposed to be good, if not for the idiot who mirrored his movements and stood next to him.

He sighed and grabbed his towel to dry his hair.

"S-So…"

Fuck. The great Natsu Dragneel was stuttering… and blushing? Are you fucking kidding? No, wait, it's the heat of the afternoon. Makes more sense… But what the hell does he want?

"I heard you like Final Fantasy, Overwatch, Dragons and Androids, and Call of Duty."

Wait a fucking minute.

"… How did you…?"

"I… uh… I'm not a creep or anything!" Why was this idiot suddenly defensive? "I… overheard your talk with Alzack about it. I also know you like big boobs, and Vanilla Ice-cream on big boobs-"

"-FUCKER!" Gray blocked Natsu's mouth with his hand as three girls walked behind them, "Lower your goddamn voice!"

Natsu pushed off his hand with the faint pink on his cheeks darkening, "I like Atlas from Dragons and Androids, which one do you like?"

The warmth of Natsu's palm was like holding the morning's soothing cup of coffee. He was so lost in that sensation that he didn't move.

"… Chayndai." FUCK, why did he answer? This idiot! Was he performing a curse on him by holding his hand—why the hell were they holding hands?! Move your goddamn stupid body!

"-Serious? The Lord of Ice? Matches you perfect." The speckles of amber in Natsu's alligator orbs glowed when he smiled.

"…You won't understand the fascination I've with him." Gray pulled his hand. He worked on drying his hair while coaxing his heart to calm down with the freakish beats.

"Atlas would kick his ass though."

"Pardon? You're so wrong."

"Prove me wrong."

"I WILL!"

"What's your online name?"

And that's how the great, great Gray Fullbuster fell into the idiot's basic trap.

From that point onwards, they dedicated time to battle online. Sometimes great friendships have ridiculous foundations. As soon as Gray heard Natsu played Dragons and Androids and has a favorite character, he knew that they were already friends, if not brothers. Kind of like when you discover that someone likes Anime and Manga in your school or workplace.

But Gray won't ACKNOWLEDGE that he has a freaking DELINQUENT friend. He was cheating on the world of fabulous education, and all the bright students.

Gray… you can't fucking do this.

"Come on… you're being an asshole. I thought we were already friends…"

"Wanna be my friend?"

"Yeah!" Natsu's eyes shone.

"There's a fantastic way."

"Hmm?" Natsu gave him his undivided attention.

"Leave me the fuck alone."

"Whaaaaat?! It can't hurt, we go the same way. This time, don't be a dick, and let's get to know each other better."

"I regret saving your ass."

"That's not nice! You did it because deep down you like my ass, right?"

"Right, and I like applying make-up on my own ass."

"I'm messing with you. I know you can't stand my ass, but maybe if you give it the chance, it'll prove you wrong."

"Why are you so adamant about this? Is it because I helped you? I don't want anything in return, ok? I want you to leave me alone instead!"

"I don't want to because I'm an asshole that way."

Gray gave the most dramatic eye-roll.

"…" An exasperated sigh escaped Gray as he continued walking home.

"I have a question for you."

"…"

"-Ok-"

"-I didn't say ask."

"You said nothing which means ok."

"…"

"Why do we not get along?"

"Because I like focusing in class, and you interrupt. You make friends with assholes, and I don't. I'm super smart, and you're super dumb, stuff like that." Gray answered.

"Ok, my turn. You think the sun shines from your anus, you're dumber than you think you are, you're super fussy and you think the world should think like how YOU think."

"All the reason we can't be friends, see?"

"Gray…"

Fuck you and your dejected puppy look. Fuck your cute cherry pink tresses. Natsu Dragneel was un-rejectable. No wonder their teachers forgave his foolishness and childish behavior no matter how big or small it was.

"... Truth is, my guard is still on the watch for you. I can't help it, okay? We've been fighting for a long time. I need time to adjust to this new freaky… progress."

"OOOOOOOH! You said _progress_ , huh? _Huh?_ " Natsu grinned and nudged Gray with his elbow.

"Ah hell!"

Natsu nodded, the grin never leaving his lips, "Understandable. My guard is still on the watch for you too, but I have a feeling we can make it work… somehow…"

"Yeah? Me too."

Their first fist bump was the marking of an **_official_** friendship.

* * *

At school, they made their classmates faint and their principal proud of the new change, and they were questioned about the miracle that had brought them together.

"Dragons and Androids."

If it wasn't for that game, Gray wouldn't give a fuck. With time, they revealed common interests, common dislikes, and common challenges. Like when they both were promoted to enter the nationals for Taekwondo.

And the irony. Gray and Natsu enjoyed every moment of the walk home. It was their favorite part of the day to talk about all kinds of shit. Their chats revolved around the game, crappy teachers, dorky classmates (Gray teased Natsu that he was one of them). Sometimes, they enjoyed their walk in contented silence as they ate Gray's favorite vanilla ice-cream from his favorite ice-cream shop.

They were becoming… eh, well. Best friends.

"Do you know since when I wanted to be friends with you?"

Gray let the vanilla flavor melt in his mouth, then answered with a smile of satisfaction, "… When I saved your ass, right?"

"Nah. Before that. When I heard you talk with Alzack about Vanilla Ice-cream on big boobs. That was hilarious."

People squinted at their loud laughter in public. Their bright youth was irritating.

"Not when you heard about the game?!"

"Nope-"

Natsu was too invested in their chat to notice the speeding heavy truck behind him. The alarming honking of the giant death on wheels approaching strung Gray's eardrums and rippled through his whole body.

 _'Shitshitshitshitshitshit-'_

"— **FUCK**!"

His heart's pounding reverberated loudly, equipping his muscles with an inhuman power that tightened around Natsu's arm and flung him onto the other side of the pedestrian walk like gravity didn't exist. The truck's blast of air that resulted from speeding knocked Gray breathless.

"Gah…!" Natsu groaned.

Fuck… Natsu could've died. So… so-so easily. In a few seconds, just poof! What the fuck?! He was going to lose… his best friend, AND YES, he admits that, thanks to the cock who drove the giant ass truck! Oooooh, he wished he had an RPG with him!

"D-Dude, loosen-up, ow!"

Gray's steel grip around Natsu's arm elicited groans that went unheard. He was so fucking busy panting and calming the thrashing of his heart in his ears. One day… Gray was gonna find that cock and teach him a lesson or two, screw it, he vowed revenge.

A comforting, familiar warmth calmed his clenching jaw, harsh breaths, and rigid muscles. And that scent… the one he noticed when they practiced Taekwondo, when Natsu passed by him, or when he threw an arm around Gray's shoulders… that fresh sea breeze and sweet vanilla mix. So that… belonged to Natsu after all. He thought he was hallucinating because he always craved Vanilla ice-cream.

The steel grip loosened to a gentle hold, and since he was too lost in his favorite scent, he hated letting it go.

Natsu's notebooks and pens were sprawled on the pedestrian walkway next to his backpack, and the boy stood, hugged to Gray's chest like Gray would lose his soul if he let go.

"A—Thanks… didn't see that one coming…" Natsu's hands pushed Gray's protective hold off of him subtly, with a blush gnawing at his face, but Gray wouldn't budge.

"What… you… what, YOU FUCKING IDIOT! Watch where you're walking!"

At that outburst, once again, the pedestrians shot Gray criticizing glares.

"…" Natsu flinched at Gray's outburst, and then gasped when Gray embraced him, as if they weren't surrounded by anyone.

"Shit…" Gray's body trembled after his muscles has released the earlier sharp tension. Yes, it was awkward. Yes, it was… so unlike him to react this way, but he did. Because… Natsu has reached that level of importance in Gray's life. And… Gray didn't want to lose him.

Fuck.

 _'Fuck… what the fuck am I doing? So awkward, fuck!'_

"Um. Ah, um… sorry. Could you… Gray, I know you love me so fucking much, but we can hug later, dude! People are watching!"

Natsu pushed Gray off, dark red smudging his face. He then kneeled to gather his scattered belongings, and Gray unconsciously joined to help him.

"He's insane. He should've stopped behind you. Fucker…"

"I'm also at fault… I was completely lost in the talk you know… Thank you…" Natsu sniffed, his cheeks glowing red, "You… I owe you one, thanks."

Gray waved a hand to dismiss Natsu's statement. He would've been panicking he hugged his friend out of the blue in the street, if not for the fear in his system that dissipated leaving sweet relief.

Their walk was so robotic and awkward afterwards that Gray was thankful they reached their homes. Living with himself that day embarrassed the hell out of him on many levels. When Gray held Natsu's body against him… two elements which aren't supposed to come together did. Like the friction point of fire and Ice, where steam violently aroused and left them both scorched.

The imaginary scorching mark was printed on his chest, deep down in his heart, lungs, his arms, and his neck. And the marking was permanent, he couldn't erase it. Help, he couldn't breathe.

So stupid.

Gray convinced himself it was fine, the next day they would forget it and move on. And this mark will be gone, and he wouldn't be in so much pain.

His phone vibrated, and with a heavy heart, he grabbed it from under his pillow and remained in a relaxing position on his bed.

 _Natsu: Ah… you ok?_

Gray just… smiled, stupidly.

 _Gray: Don't steal my line, idiot._

He waited.

 _Natsu: COME ON! You're making a big deal out of this. So what if I died today? Listen, if that ever happened, I'd want you to find yourself some nice girl with nice curves and big boobs. Drown your sorrows in those boobs. Trust me, that'll make me and YOU happy. I don't want weeping or shit like that._

That… idiot.

 _Gray: Yeah, got it. Goodnight._

 _Natsu: Stop it with the glaring and talk._

 _Gray: How did you…?_

 _Natsu: DUH. I can see it from here._

Gray sighed.

 _Gray: I almost lost my best friend today. Yeah, I know, close your mouth. Oh, and it's fine if you don't feel the same. Just know that I lost family before… and, I don't wanna lose you. I sound like a pussy, I know._

Ok, he didn't think his words through. He was the STUPID ONE. Natsu would hurl those words in his face, if not blackmail him in the future.

 _'What the fuck are you-'_

 _Natsu: You're my best friend too. And… thank you. You really saved me, but next time I'll take you with me, since it'll be lonely if I go alone._

 _Gray: It's a promise, I'll go with you._

 _Natsu: Fuck you. Depressing bastard! Sleep! Clear your fucking head! No one's going anywhere!_

* * *

Because the idiots in his class discarded their headgears and shin-guards like toddlers in kindergarten, they had to stand for half an hour listening to their coach's reprimands. Some of them slept awake, and some of them didn't care and snored in the back (Natsu Dragneel).

Dear coach unleashed a frenzy of insults upon Natsu and gave him the day's cleaning duty.

Gray strode to the showers, not waiting for even a minute to pass after the long hellish practice. The cold shower buzzed through his bruised muscles and untied the tensioned knots in his system.

"Natsu, shouldn't you be cleaning?"

"Pffffffffffffffffff, me? Are you insane?! WHY WOULD I DO THAT? No ways! Booooooring."

Gray shook his head inside the shower cubicle, overhearing Natsu's conversation with a friend.

"You're gonna be eating the coach's shit if he finds out you ditched."

"Ooooooooh, MAJOR key word here. If. Which he won't, because uh, he won't. He had tried before and failed, remember?"

"Dude… he's coming here, and… fuck!"

"SHIT!"

He was drying his hair with the towel when a heavy weight fell on his back.

"Oh shit… there's someone here—Gray! Cool! DUDE I NEED TO HIDE!"

"… You fucking…" Gray's face and body was glued to the wet flooring tiles. His head rung a twisted whistle from the pain, and he wanted to murder his friend.

"Shhhhhhhhh!" Natsu slapped his hand on Gray's mouth who got up and rested his abused naked back on the door.

"NATSU! YOU CAN'T HIDE FOR LONG! YOU'RE GONNA BE EATING MY SHIT!"

 _'Ouch…'_

Natsu laughed his head off and tried to kill his voice, which pulled a laugh out of Gray. This guy… he didn't care at all, did he? Since Natsu didn't have a shirt on, his eyes traced shower water droplets roll on his chiseled chest, next to his nipples, travelling towards his stiff abdomen, and stop at the hem of his pants... What if he pulled the zipper of those pants… and… yeah, he's going insane.

They waited for another five minutes before the coach stormed off looking for him.

"Goshhh…" Natsu rubbed imaginary sweat off, and grinned, giving the thumbs up sign, "Success!"

"You're gonna be dead." Gray grunted, and then laughed.

"Shut up!" Natsu laughed… then his eyes widened as he stared down.

Well, what did he expect? He invaded Gray's showering time, so yes, he was stark naked, and Natsu practically straddled him. Crimson blew up in Natsu's cheeks, neck, ears, and it was funny. The great Natsu Dragneel was embarrassed, huh? Weird.

Natsu backed off and bowed comically, "Ah… will be on my way out now!"

The minute Natsu climbed the cubicle like a skilled monkey and did not use the door like normal people, he winced and fell back. Gray's chest received his fallen weight as the black haired kneeled on the floor, holding Natsu in his arms.

"What's wrong?"

"My… foot…" Natsu gritted his teeth, "-Hurts so much, fuck! I'll kill that brunette!"

That brunette = Someone Natsu fought at today's Taekwondo practice.

"Wait… let me see…"

"Don't touch it! It hurts!"

"Fuck, did you break it or what?! Just wait a sec."

Gray's examined the other's right foot, and Natsu rested his head back on Gray's shoulder, biting his lips to endure the pain.

"Ok, you know what? It's fine. A little strained, that's all. I'll help go to the infirmary."

"Why did this have to happen?"

"Karma."

"Right. Screw you."

"Ok, let's-"

"-No no no no no! I need time to prepare myself-wait!"

"Ok…"

They both sighed and laughed lightly at the situation Natsu has put himself in.

"NATSU! GET OUT!"

"FU-"

It was Gray's turn to shut Natsu's mouth with his hand. Their breaths came out hardly as they saw the coach's feet outside their cubicle.

"It's okay." Gray whispered in Natsu's ear.

The showering cubicle got impossibly tight. They were bounded by the shower's water. Skin to skin. Heart to heart. And Natsu's warmth was too good, but equally dangerous. His sweet vanilla and sea breeze mix converted Gray to a crazy being.

It was that body that obscured the functioning of Gray's lungs. His fingers loosened around Natsu's mouth, and God, the velvet lips underneath his fingers hardened his length that almost pressed up against Natsu's back...

The imaginary scorch mark glowed and urged him to pull away from his _guy-friend._

But then… he stared at Natsu's back, and Natsu's back was beautiful, and sexy, and his mouth watered looking at it, his teeth itching to graze the shoulder bone.

 _'You're a creep… fuck you, he's a guy… he's… a fucking guy!'_

Their skin contact channeled Natsu's heartbeats… his ears reddened, and he tilted his head to the back and Gray didn't understand the look he gave him. For a second, he lost himself in the sensation of the inflamed skin's goose bumps and blemishes under his Index finger that lightly stroke Natsu's forearm.

And the scorch mark of fire meeting Ice produced that intense steam, attempting at pushing Gray's hold on Natsu.

"… Gray…" Natsu whispered, then swallowed, "… What…?"

Gray's thumb brushed Natsu's moist cheek, quivering with need, and Natsu didn't shrug it off, it was his fault. Or maybe he should have trusted Gray less, that dumbass.

"… I don't know…"

Natsu's breath tickled his nose and tempted him to smash his lips on him.

 _Bang! Bang! Bang!_

"Natsu, get out, he's gone!"

They reeled away from one another, their hearts thrashing, and their brains too foggy to comprehend what had happened.

And like that… the mark slept in Gray's core, satisfied that its job was done. It forced them apart… because fire… can't meet with Ice, and Gray was doing something forbidden and wrong.

One that… might have lost him the best friend he ever had. But why did it hurt? That day, he was so upset that he didn't eat for the rest of the day, and slept with a heart that weighed 500kgs in his chest.

The coach chased Natsu's ass to hell till the end of the academic year.

* * *

Natsu interrupted their daily routine during their second high school year for two months when he dated. Lunches, online gaming, breaks, hanging out… gone. Having a girlfriend brightened a lot, but think of your best friend whom you'd sacrifice, would you?

The last thing Gray kept to himself was going home. YES.

"What…? You finally got someone who could tolerate your spontaneous self, bruise their reputation for you, and you tell me it's over? You sure you're alright… mentally?"

"Shut up!" Natsu yelled.

"You're a magnificent idiot."

"I got no choice alright?!"

"Fucker, of course you have!"

"No, I don't!"

"…"

"She wants to go home together, ok?"

"Wha…?"

Holy shit… even though Natsu was done dating, Gray felt threatened. Who did SHE think herself was to come between them? He had known Natsu for a short while, but it was more than enough to establish a strong friendship that lasts for a lifetime.

LIFETIME.

Gray agreed with himself that he committed a horrible mistake when he allowed foreign feelings to merge with his and Natsu's friendship. It accumulated throughout high school, and then some afterwards. Although they fought like Kilkenny cats during high school, college life offered lots of enhancements.

Don't misunderstand, they maintained and further developed their casual punch-up routine, but the emotional and sexual tension of their relationship reached its peak to the extent that Gray wished approximately EVERY day he'd grow enough manly balls and… maybe _force_ Natsu into a physical relationship. It would've been so easy, considering the fact that Natsu gravitated towards him.

NOT.

Natsu was a fucked up idiot like himself who (probably) bottled-up everything and acted as a loyal friend. He often forgot that he contributed to the desperation of the silent raging physical and emotional attraction they've got for one another. In Gray's defense, a lot of obstacles came along.

Aside to the gay-romance criticism, Gray and Natsu could die a hundred times, live again, and Natsu's father wouldn't approve of them. From head to toe, Natsu was controlled by his father, not only because he was supporting him but also because Natsu loved his father too damn much.

Forget that, Gray's social status differed from Natsu's well-affiliated with wealth-family, and the complications accompanied with that… If that relationship was ever to be formed, the amount of headache coming with it was too vast for Gray's health.

Sometimes, Gray imagined himself raping Natsu, and then Natsu forgives him because… he just did?

Maybe that's what it was. Maybe he wanted Natsu to get out of his system by having sex with him once. Maybe he was a sick pervert. Just because he was curious about how Natsu's hot body would feel against him, didn't mean it was worth ruining their friendship. Why was he thinking Natsu had the same desire? Or feelings?

Man...

Natsu convinced his father to go to the same college as Gray after long discussions and arguments. It was hard to persuade him to live with Gray because it's closer to college.

It was so awesome living together at the beginning. Later, Gray discovered it was disastrous and dangerous, because his inner perverted self was unpredictable.

Come on, they were in the phase where they grew so touchy-feely to a normal friendship's taste. They snuggled watching TV, they were glued to the hip while playing online games, they didn't _sleep_ together, but Natsu used his _lap_ to sleep before, they fucking needed physical contact and it was getting out of control.

They needed manly BALLS. One of them had to break it to the other he wanted a relationship, and the other won't be baffled!

The fact that he thought their relationship through so many times meant he was serious about being involved with Natsu. That fucking-awesome-realization hit him in the college's library.

Ok. This was it. It was the day he shoves Natsu down and confesses his attraction to him through a kiss.

He packed his belongings and headed back to find that Natsu was already there.

 _'Ok… you're gonna do this! Nothing will stop you! NOTHING.'_

"Nat?"

He entered their bedroom with the two single beds and found Natsu shirtless, applying a soothing gel on his bruises.

"Mmm?"

They still practiced Taekwondo after high school, and Natsu was super intense sometimes.

"What's wrong?"

"Coach. He's so brutal." Natsu's finger struggled to reach the purple bruise on his back and sighed, "This was the worst ass-handing ever, I'm drowning in shame and disgust from myself."

"Serves you right for challenging him out of the blue with no damn plan."

"Shut up and make yourself useful."

"Ok."

"Why are you taking your shirt off?!"

Gray smirked when Natsu's face and hair matched in color, then snatched the gel from the flustered guy, climbing the bed from behind.

"Did I embarrass the little girl?"

"As if. Dude, don't just strip out of no where, it's so fucking weird. I swear to god, I didn't sign up for this when I wanted to be friends with you, poor naïve me."

"Oh shut up. That's me getting useful."

"Anyone told you, it's a habit going out of control?"

"Anyone told you, you talk nonsense?"

"How did I ever manage to live with you?" Natsu rolled his eyes.

Gray pushed Natsu's upper back forward with so he gets easy access to those… horrendous bruises.

"Dude… that's… not normal." The purple slaps of bruises on Natsu's waist, where his ribs met with his spine… this wasn't a challenge, it was a fight, "Did you… get into a fight?"

"No." That sounded honest, strange.

"Sure about that?"

"Why would I lie about this?"

"…It's too much ok? It's way too much. Looks very serious."

Gray watched Natsu's rigid muscles convulse to give that long exhale, "Told you. I was like _fight me like I'm a professional with no gears_! He was like _BRING IT ON BRAT_. Next thing you knew, it was like **bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!** And poor me flying out and landing hard on my ass. And… I needed it… I needed something to make me stop thinking…ugh."

His fingers were feathers spreading the gel on Natsu's sensitive skin, and he swallowed, what if he caused him more pain?

"I didn't know you had something tacky going on in your head… how come I don't know about it?"

"…"

"Come on, say it."

"Can't."

"Interesting… now we're keeping secrets?"

"…"

"You fucker…" Gray positioned Natsu in a headlock and threatened to choke him, "Say it. Say it or you're dead."

"What the-" Natsu shrugged him off, but it wasn't strong enough, and Gray was adamant to know what was disturbing his friend.

"You'll be dead!"

"Asshole! No, get off!" Natsu winced in pain, and Gray's soft spot for him urged him to let go, but what if it was serious, and Gray needed to know about it?

"Dude, you can tell me whatever ok? You're so transparent I can see the digestion of that hamburger you ate after practice, so while you're at it, just tell me what's going on in that stupid brain of yours."

"FUCK! How'd you know it was a hamburger? Shit, that's so creepy, stop X-raying me you bastard!"

"Why? Is there something you don't want me to X-ray?" Gray choked Natsu harder.

"There's nothing! Let go. I'm serious-"

"-So am I!" Gray let go, but he held Natsu's cheek and chin and turned it to face him, his fingers marking Natsu's skin red, "What's wrong?"

Natsu's eyes brimmed with tears and agony, he bit on his lips and his shoulders drooped.

"… What…?"

 _Why?_ Was it so serious… and he hasn't noticed? Natsu was hurting so bad, and he didn't know. He worried about himself, his feelings, his fucking bullshit, and he did not notice how _his_ guy was hurting? What kind of failure was that? Fuck.

When Natsu refused to speak, he couldn't bring himself to press him further. It was the first time he had seen Natsu breaking down, and he hated it. That… sinking feeling in his stomach, it grew worse watching those eyelids host a flood of tears and those pink eyelashes strained from blinking not to have them fall. He let go and continued soothing Natsu's bruises.

He heard the other sniff, then crumble and sob.

That constricted Gray's chest… how powerless and useless was he?

"Shit, Natsu. I didn't… sorry…" He muttered an apology. He was such an S-class douchebag.

"Nah… it's cool. I don't know what's happening you know?" Natsu's voice was tearful and breaking.

"You got your period? Shoulda taken a pain killer."

"Fuck you…" A weak laugh broke through Natsu's tears, "Seriously, fuck you."

"Anytime. Just say it, you got it."

"I hate you."

"I know."

When Gray was done treating his bruises, Natsu took a deep breath and wiped his eyes, breaking Gray more. There was nothing he could do to make Natsu feel better since he didn't know the cause of his friend's dilemma.

He switched off the lights, leaving a small table lamp open, and pushed Natsu back on his bed.

"What are you… d-doing?"

"You're gonna relax. Try not to think about anything."

"What…? What, no-"

The boy protested and pushed himself to sit, but Gray laid him back with all the gentleness in the world to not irritate his bruises.

"I'm not-"

Natsu released a gasp as Gray's face invaded his breathing space, and as he laid next to him. He brushed a stray pink tress away from the bright green orbs and frowned.

"Can you shut up now? Don't move, stupid."

Gray hugged Natsu to his bare chest, and with hammering heartbeats, he pressed a firm kiss on Natsu's forehead.

It was the first time he expressed affection, and he didn't know what came over him. When Natsu's honeyed skin melted against him, Gray didn't have a desire rush, he didn't want to take or claim. Because then, Natsu's warm tears had wetted the pillow and his chest, and guilt squished him for his careless and unthoughtful attitude earlier.

"Gray… I really don't…" Natsu swallowed, "…don't… hate you."

 _Duh._

"I know."

"No you don't know… stop saying you know everything because you don't!" Natsu broke, his tears rushing hotter than before.

"Alright, alright, alright…" Gray petted his hair, "Alright… I don't know… I don't know shit."

Natsu kept repeating _I don't hate you_ until crying knocked him off asleep. He then wiped Natsu's tears and hugged him tighter; as if whatever paining Natsu would disappear this way.

Gray still doesn't know what unsettled his friend that night… to this day. All he remembers is him, sleeping next to Natsu, useless.

And… confessions be damned. He wasn't about to make it more difficult for the guy. Gray had to give up for the time being and be the best version of a best friend.

* * *

A life changing incident occurred at third year college.

Natsu was sent to the district's Investigation Department by mistake among a group of drug dealers. Natsu's high school delinquent friends were fooling around until they got caught in the cross-fire between two entities. Gray got scared shitless, and he went as far as contacting Natsu's father who had so many connections able to spare the boy.

Then came the surprise when the man visited him after the call. They sat down and-

"Why are you seducing my son?" Nicely put, the man expressed the qualms he had about them both.

"…"

"I know Natsu like the back of my hand. You're special to him."

Gray suffocated and replying to the man's stiff accusing language proved hard. Especially, when so much demeaning spiraled in the father's cerise eyes.

"With all respect, I'm not seducing anybody… and I don't think that's the issue we should discuss now…"

"Let me explain. I'd rather have my son imprisoned than have him out banging his best male friend."

"… HOW… What are you saying?!" That shit has never happened!

"Well then, back off. Natsu's not your soul mate, alright? Stop confusing him kid. The minute I get him out of this mess, you will cut all ties and let him go. It'll be good for you both, trust me."

Being the loyal best friend and all, Gray backed off. He cut all ties, moved out of the apartment, and contacted Natsu by text messages and calls. Causally, they'd meet, but Gray would pretend as if he's busy with college, work, and other complicated things in his life, until the string tying them got so thin.

Natsu tried getting Gray to talk so many times, but Gray suited up in his douchebag suit.

Honestly, there were two reasons Gray obliged to Natsu's father's request. He thought being away from Natsu might clear his head, might change the way he feels about his friend and vice versa. Also, what kind of friend was he if he couldn't protect his best friend on his own? He was weak and pathetic.

And then Natsu disappeared.

And then Gray got the call he was arrested at the NIA because of passport forgery, what bullshit.

Natsu has always got himself into complicated fuckery.

Maybe if he had accepted his feelings towards his friend, Natsu wouldn't have laid in KMC. Maybe things would've been different, and he would've been laying that unfortunate night of arrest safe and sound next to Gray.

* * *

To Be Continued...

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** TBD. My (expectation) is 15 days, subject to change.

 **Special thanks to:** The Sorcerer of Winter (Dude, I can't thank you enough, no words will express that), Guest, deboome. Guys, thanks for your lovely words.

 **Question by Guest** : ' _Whose the sergeant? Gajeel or another guy?'_

Sting and Gajeel are both sergeants within the same military base. Yes, there's more than one.

SO YEAH, backstory is revealed. Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	9. Chapter 9

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** BY The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** N **i** n **e** **O.** o **.O**

* * *

Natsu ambled along a limitless crisp shore in a dark starless night, with no aim, no destination, no stopping. The uncertainty of the strong waves resonated in his green lifeless eyes. After Gray's important reveal, Natsu has abandoned his plans with the boiled water, and Gray saw him lost on that beach of arctic truths.

Gray's fingers traced the fine wooden veins of the dining table while he stared at the portrait of an old military geezer on the rough brick wall.

 _'Big guy… This guy still alive?'_

The Blue Pegasus Military base offered two extremes. During the day, aircrafts busied the sky, training and truck sirens kept them alarmed, but when the night dominated, small shrilling wind replaced that tension. In unit 8, the wind chime's metal recomposed that shrilling to the nicest of melodies.

After he had clarified with his friend the cause of their friendship's fallout, emptiness filled his core, his shoulders relaxed, and his chest lightened, and… he was free. Free from the guilt of having to lie and hide, free from hurting himself the way he did the past phase of his life, free from being called a traitor.

He hid from Natsu the part where his father doubted a romantic relationship between them. He didn't want to worsen Natsu's state of mind. Also, that's... a big topic on its own. And… it's the one thing he despised lying about because yes, he wanted Natsu back then. And now. And every minute Natsu is around him.

Then… shit.

Natsu's eyes always flickered between playful and mischievous, but after he exposed what Natsu needed to know, their flicker dimmed, and they shoved ten-ton bricks in Gray's gut.

See? Telling the truth doesn't always give you the best results.

Gray had a family until a certain point he can't remember. It was a short sweet portion of his life that vanished. The villagers in Shirkawa-go found a boy who tainted the shining white snow with his filth, cries, and cheap clothes that chilled and shattered his bones.

Despite of the turn in events in his life, he was lucky. The villagers granted him home with other children, they provided him warmer clothes, food, and shelter. And when Ur came… oh… when she came, she painted his entire world with colors again. She loved all of him, the worst parts of him, and the least beautiful parts. She made sure he got his education right; she gave him everything and more than he could dream of.

Ur was there, but the pain of losing a parent was etched deep in his soul, and under no circumstance did he want problems between Natsu and his father, since the guy meant the world to Natsu.

Natsu's dad is a good dad. His son is rich—for god's sake, Natsu's stomach manipulated him! Of course big daddy feared other people taking advantage of his innocent little kid. Gray understood, and that's why he left. Because parents were more important to keep than… friends, especially those who have deep dark desires.

"I-uh… I had… no freaking idea." Natsu's laugh was frail and hollow as his right hand scratched his bicep, "I always… knew that there was something odd about this whole… uh-falling out of friendship-thing, but… I had no idea. My assumption was that **you** have a big ass problem with me or you've gone insane. This… is… fuck, this is… taking it to a whole new level…"

"Yeah, believe me I know. Like when you go to the freaking Republic of Guinea and be like 'Shit! What the hell did I do?! They're all huge bulky MEN deprived of seeing beautiful foreigners, who are also gonna be eating me…' am I right?"

Natsu's slam of a fist on the dining table knocked the glass vase with the artificial sunflowers. Okaaay, someone wasn't in the _mood_. Gray flinched from Natsu's peppery fire that seeped in his skin as the guy jerked to his feet.

"I need to make a call." Natsu's voice deepened and creases showed on his forehead, jaw, chin.

"Natsu…" He saw this one coming too, "Don't… he was only looking out for you. Let's discuss this first."

Natsu ignored his plea and stomped towards the phone. Oh, for the love of—Gray sprang up and dragged Natsu's arm to stop him from making a mistake.

"Calm down-"

"Back off!" Natsu's palms pounded on Gray's chest two times, pushing him two steps back, disregarding his injuries. His veins bulged on his neck and arms, " **Not** gonna say it again."

His heart quickened its pace as Natsu stormed out of Unit 8.

 _'You've just sabotaged a father-son relationship, congrats.'_

He tossed himself on one of the dining chairs and stared off at nothing. Natsu would not listen to him, and there was nothing he could do when Natsu wore that look.

* * *

The heated throbbing seared in his shoulder and leg, thus, his entire body hurt. Although his glasses were on, his vision blurred.

Shit… what was the time? _Shit._

Back in KMC, his doctor ordered him to take the medication at specific timings, and he has been following that blindly because pain gnawed at him always, and if it bounced to a higher level, Gray would shoot himself this time to rest his misery.

Missing antibiotics timings for flu was a big deal for him before. Ha. Ha. Ha. Missing antibiotics timings for a gunshot treatment was a no-no-NO, and his heart dropped knowing he screwed up.

 _'Nothing to do about that... suck it up buddy…'_

A large sigh squeezed his chest as he rushed to his handbag and started taking out his medication. Later, he moved their suitcases to their rooms upstairs, challenging his injuries and the wave of nausea that hit him.

When he was done, his breath was tattered and his surroundings whirled.

He chose one of the two rooms to dump in their belongings—yeah, it was an unconscious decision. He expected that he and Natsu would sleep in the same room, on the comfy queen size bed.

Ok problem. First, he needed to consult Natsu then see if they sleep in separate rooms, right.

In the back of his mind, Gray told himself he wasn't going to share one building with Natsu and have them sleep in different rooms, that's bullshit. They lost so much time the past years, and he didn't want them to lose more.

Friends slept together; it wasn't that big of a deal.

OK. How about this? He gives his friend the 'Option' to sleep with him, and if his _friend_ objected, Gray would admit his defeat, and recognize that he has lost his attractiveness that Natsu could resist the idea.

Would Natsu object though? With his crappy mood, yeah. Maybe. Why was he wasting time thinking about this?

The room had everything they needed, the coffee-colored wooden floor warmed it against the subtle grey walls, but ugh… that portrait of the old man again… and this time, there was someone else next to him.

How was he supposed to sleep when this old man hovered above him?

 _'Whatever.'_

His heart skipped two beats when a _slam_ echoed in the small house. Judging by that vibration's wavelength which travelled through the brick walls, that phone call couldn't have gone worse. JUST GREAT. Gray wasn't so caring to other people's feelings or parental relationships… but when it came to his guy, it was a different matter. That was the reason Gray hid the truth.

Ok, he wasn't his, and he'll never be. He's his friend though.

He descended from the stairs, and Natsu was on the sofa, his phone thrown onto the floor, his hands interlocked, and his body shaking. Not the 'I'm scared'-shaking. It was the 'I'm gonna explode'-shaking, 'Gonna kill the first person I see'-shaking, and Gray didn't wanna be the first person Natsu sees.

He debated talking to Natsu, but that… swirling dark storm with the haphazard orange fire flares surrounding Natsu's form seethed and questioned his choice selection strategy. You know what? Natsu _needed_ space. Let everything soak in, and as a bonus, Gray gets to live another day.

" **You!** "

He halted on his way up the stairs… Dang it. Too late.

"Why couldn't you tell me all of this long back?! Huh? What… what the fuck is wrong with **you**?! You burned bridges because of nonsense like this? Why, Why the hell didn't you tell me?!"

Natsu strode towards him, kicking a floor lamp. When they were closer than he preferred (when Natsu was in this state), he swallowed, and shards of fright dispersed in his chest. What could he say? What kind of answer will calm Natsu? What kind of answer was Natsu looking for? He didn't want to fuel his aggravation.

"Speak. **Now**."

Gray remembered when Natsu's dad came to his place. His deep draconic-eyes shredded Gray's courage and reduced him to nothing but a powerless teenager with a sick desire that threatened defiling his son. The man could see through him, effortlessly. He made Gray hate himself. Also, he gave up their friendship and the silent growing attraction they harbored for one another because he couldn't bear the responsibility. He was young and _dependent_ , and he feared Natsu's father's reaction if he came to know Gray had told his son anything.

Gray shouldered an immense amount of pressure and Natsu wouldn't understand… any of it. Natsu has all the right to be angry. He doesn't know the main reason Natsu's father chased Gray's ass away.

"Bastard! You answer me now!"

"Then let me ask you this." Gray's voice's tone was firm as he strengthened it to match Natsu's rumbling one, "Who's more important? Your friend or your father?"

Natsu paled, his mouth parting to answer, but held it off.

Yeah, he got his point across.

"If you can't answer this, you have no right to attack me." He drew in a slow breath. Of course Natsu's father was more important than Gray ever would be, "I know what it's like to lose a parent. Heck, before I was an orphan, those two were the only thing that mattered on earth. You always talked so highly of your dad, what did you want me to do? Tell you? Risk breaking you two up?"

Natsu's jaw clenched, his knuckles becoming white.

"That and… I was ashamed I couldn't protect you myself. I had to rely on that fucking **jerk** to get you out and save the day _and_ your future. You nicely disappeared afterwards, had a life, almost got married, while I worked myself to death to forget that I lost you that way."

Gray had kept a lot of things bottled the last three years he couldn't forget about Natsu. His temper scared off new friendships, he became apathetic, and he lost a part of him when the boy left.

When Natsu jumped the remaining distance between them to punch the daylights out of Gray… his jaw cracked, his glasses flew then fell, and his feet retreated two steps.

What? _Why?!_

Motherfucker—oh… is it because he called his dad a 'Fucking jerk'? His heated cheek didn't pain as much as the caving in his chest.

"It's you!"

"What the…?" Gray tasted blood on his lips, his eyes narrowing as he held his jaw.

"You asked me a question!" Natsu's breaths were short and sharp, "It's you!"

It took Gray quite a long time to realize the meaning of his friend's statement.

"I went to the freaking Republic of **Guinea**! To **Africa**! As far as I could to forget about you…"

Gray's blue eyes kept staring ahead, and a lump grew in his throat.

"I was dying from the inside… I thought you didn't care anymore! That I did something horrible because you wouldn't kick my heart shitless without a valid reason! And now you're telling me this? Did you even stop for a second and THINK SO HARD that I had no fault whatsoever in this whole dramatic shit between you and that fucking jerk?"

This was a Gray Fullbuster classic. He was that big asshole who thought he was the only person hurting in this. He focused on how unfair everything was to him and disregarded his friend's feelings. Why? Had he ever thought about how Natsu felt the past years? How he managed to go on?

He did, but not as much as he was lost in his own misery.

"You didn't ask a fair question Gray! Under these circumstances, you're more important! Even a dumb fool like me can tell that much!" Natsu's eyes glistened with trapped tears, and his shoulders slumped.

Gray protected Natsu with the choice he made three years ago, but those crushed eyes pushed him to doubt the sanity of his decisions. His heart fell as Natsu held off his tears, and before he could stop himself, his arms pulled Natsu into a hug, and a hand buried itself in the smooth pink filaments.

His palm patted around Natsu's hair, and he dared not to make things worse, "Can we… not do this right now? Please? I… am tired-"

"-I missed you… I missed you so so much."

That little fact disclosure from Natsu's side floated in his gut, and he wasn't in the least expecting it. He expected something more on the lines of _'I will exterminate you and never let your body be found'_ , or _'You little shit'_ , or _'Friendship over dude'_.

He wasn't expecting a lovely _'I missed you.'_

That shitty flutter in his heart wouldn't stop… Natsu wouldn't stop.

That wasn't so bad. Not really. Boosted his pride and ego a lot… so even after being a jerk for half a year, he was still missed? Did that sound horrible? He didn't care.

"You… I swear to god-" Gray tightened his arms around Natsu's shivering mess, "Dude, don't cry on me now…"

"I missed you… jerk. God…"

Gray wasn't the bad guy… and there was nothing he could do about the matter three years ago. Maybe Natsu or someone else might have a different opinion, but Gray did what he thought was best, he wouldn't do it any other way… he regretted nothing.

He felt the heavy rise and fall of Natsu's chest and body and groaned. A small smile broke past his tormented face, he knew Natsu's would kick his ass later, but… it was alright…

Natsu was in his arms and that was great.

* * *

Natsu laid on his back on the sofa while his legs rested on Gray lap. Ah, finally, everything's out. No more walls, no more lies.

The emotional burst plus the brawl earlier with Sergeant Gajeel exhausted their energy reserve. Their beds were upstairs, but Natsu's stare plastered itself to the air particles above him, too lost in the recent information and the reality of things.

 _'Now what?!'_

Gray was lost too. Were they good? Would Natsu accept him back? They haven't spoken since, and Gray was afraid to ask those questions and receive heartbreaking answers.

"I'm gonna kill my dad."

Gray chuckled, staring at the small table lamp that lit the room, and enjoying the wind chime's melodies. His arms hugged Natsu's legs towards him, then he shook his head, nervousness coating his voice, "Please, don't do that… I didn't—and I don't want that."

"What's his problem though?"

Natsu was annoyed.

"I don't know Natsu. Honestly, if I had an idea, you would be the first person to know about it."

Suddenly, the melodies of the wind chime shrilled at Gray's sound of lies and guilt. Well… lies again.

Natsu sighed and raised Gray's glasses that he decommissioned when he punched him earlier, examining them.

 _'Baby, you're amazing, but sometimes, I want you dead…'_

Gray's eyes drooped. That shitty flutter broke in his chest as he watched each inch of Natsu who examined the glasses. His focused sharp eyes, the scrunched nose, the bloody corner of his lips and the scratch mark on his cheek from today's fight, the caramel skin of his kissable neck… It was all blurred, nonetheless, had a strong effect on his mental state.

"It's cracked…" Natsu cursed in a soft tone, and stared down at Gray, "Can you see without it?"

Gray swallowed then shrugged.

 _'Why would I put it on if I can see without it, dumbass?'_

"Mmm. A bit."

"How well can you see me?" Natsu was a meter away.

"… erm. Blurred a bit."

"Fuck…" Natsu's eyes widened, "You're farsighted?"

"Mhmm."

"Now?" Natsu leaned over, "Can you?"

His lips looked nice… he smelled nice too. Like his favorite, vanilla.

 _'Shit… get a grip…'_

"Mhmm. Can."

"Oh..."

"… It's a small crack, I can still wear it."

Natsu scratched his shoulder with nervous fingers, "I, I'll find a solution… tomorrow. I'm sure somewhere there's an opt-"

"-It's okay, Nat." Fuzziness clouded his brain when Natsu was this close, "'s okay."

"You deserved it though."

"Did not."

He wasn't wrong before, he didn't regret it. But… as he could feel Natsu's body heat close to him, his strong-willed green eyes, and his small grin, tears welled-up in his eyes. Suddenly, they were the two carefree high school teenagers… who only cared about online games and talking about hot girls in their classroom. Gray wanted this more than anything, but he wasn't expecting it to happen, not like that.

"What…" Natsu dropped his small grin. Upon seeing Gray's streaming silent tears, his nose reddened, and voice weakened, "If you think you could earn my sympathy and change my mind, think again."

"Stupid." Gray chuckled, tasting his salty tears when he licked his lips. "Do you know… how much I missed you?" His shaking thumb caressed just under Natsu's lips, "I couldn't breathe, I swear."

* * *

 _"If you think you could earn my sympathy and change my mind, think again."_

Gray didn't earn Natsu's sympathy. Gray didn't change Natsu's mind.

No.

Gray's shaky hold on his chin had touched his heart and dragged Natsu unwillingly into falling in love with him ALL. OVER. AGAIN. What was more pathetic? The fact that Natsu has never grown out of this pitiful love, or he will live and die a hundred times and he won't freaking move on?

Gray was a guy who didn't smile often, but when he did, Natsu inhaled those rare smiles like they were a high-quality drug leading him up to the verge of ecstasy. Insults and smartass comments often fired from Gray's… hot mouth, but his gentleness towards Natsu reached the depths of his stardust orbs. And oh, how he wished to own those beautiful eyes all the girls talked about wherever Gray went.

Whenever he was close to Gray like now, all he could think of is them wrapped up in a sweating embrace, skin to skin, lips on lips, heart to heart.

Oh God.

Gray was the definition of perfection. So, as they hugged, Natsu shed tears again. This time, it wasn't because of the oppressive situation that parted them years ago. He shed tears for his pathetic self that would never stop loving this man.

How cruel was this? He was hugging the very person who he can't have in his wildest dreams. He was so freaking close, yet so achingly far.

"Am I… forgiven?"

Natsu chuckled as Gray broke him more.

"Yeah. Long time back, Gray. Long time back…"

Not fair.

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** TBD. My (expectation) is 15 days, subject to change.

 **Special thanks to:** KoriNoKoibito, mdelpin, Guest. Thank you so much you guys. You're great.

For all my readers, thank you so much for reading this piece, and feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	10. Chapter 10

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O ** **.o.**** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** T **e** n **O **.**** o ** **.** O**

* * *

 _'Holy… cow.'_

His neck detached itself from the rest of his body. What did he think? That sleep on the couch in a sitting position was the most comfortable sleeping pose?

The splashing of cold water on his face revived a part of him as he twirled his neck around, hoping the cramps would stop. Upstairs, where he kept their luggage, Gray was in his boxers as he picked his beige chino pants, a grey V-neck t-shirt, and his brown hooded jacket.

Dressing up these days was a hassle. He'd spend half an hour changing the dressing of his injuries first, then avoiding rubbing the fabric with them. This madness has got to stop, he was treating his designer clothes like they were landmines.

He reached out to put on his shoes, then realized he had grabbed the air.

He wanted nothing more than hanging Natsu upside down. Gray had mind-blowing egoistical moments where he admitted/sang to himself that 'He's perfect' before AND after he'd dressed. Come on, why did he waste his prime years of youth on electrical engineering when he should have been a model? That's why, putting on cracked glasses wasn't the proper finishing touch to "Perfection", or his imaginary male-modelling career.

Natsu's violent tendencies aside, how did Gray ever forget bringing spare glasses? He knew the nature of the psycho he travelled with, tsk.

Ok, food, food, food.

When it came to breakfast, human beings belonged to two extreme categories:

One: Those who _can't_ have it.

Two: Those who _can't_ live without it, Gray Fullbuster's category.

His stomach swirled, grumbled, groaned, and protested, plus he needed to take his medication.

Natsu slept like an idiot would sleep. Limbs all sprawled and drooling, so disturbing the idiot's sleep didn't pain his heart. He prodded Natsu's cheeks, then pinched his nose.

"Get your butt out the… sofa. DUDE—we didn't get drunk yesterday, what's wrong with you? Wakey wakey!"

Natsu had placed a pillow on his face and turned the other side, but Gray wouldn't have it.

He sucked in a deep, deeeeep breath, and shouted, "GOSH ALMIGHTY! FOOD'S GONNA BE OVER!"

Natsu's eyelids flew open, and his body jerked forward, "WHAT? WHY?"

* * *

After dodging two fatal kicks, Gray held his stomach that pained from laughing so much without having a decent meal first and leaned against the bathroom's door frame where Natsu washed his face shirtless.

"Fucking cunt…"

"Hey, hey, hey. Less energy spent on pointless cussing, more on starting the day."

"If you weren't injured, I would kick you in the balls." Natsu spat and Gray ducked the fourth punch.

If Gray wasn't so hungry, he would have smiled as wide as a smile can be. Natsu was yelling at him first thing in the morning, and they slept together in the same… err, sofa, the night before… though he passed out without relishing the moment.

"What can I say? I'm a slave to what my body needs."

"Oh yeah? That's what she said." Natsu retorted as he closed the mixer.

"Well played, nice. Could you hurry?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?! Do you-"

"-They serve from six-thirty to ten. Now, it's nine. I wasn't lying, food's gonna be over-"

Natsu froze, "Food's gonna be over?!" For Natsu, it was the ultimate epidemic.

"YES!"

While reaching for the towel, Natsu wetted Gray with the water on his hands and hair, which was… childish?

"I don't care! I was sleeping! I was in the deepest REM stage or whatever shit that is—You're such an insensitive bastard all the time."

"Not so interested of what you think of me right now as long as we get moving. Vamos! Date prisa! Let's go, let's go!"

"Am I your dog-"

Gray cut him short. He entered Natsu's space, forcing the boy to move back until his spine straightened against the wall tiles. Drops of water rolled from Natsu's hair towards his beautiful scarred neck and collarbones that… he ignored and trained his eyes not to fix themselves on the boy's lips.

But he fixed them on Natsu's lips…

Natsu's hand covered the neck portion that Gray gaped at, and a flush crept across his cheeks, spreading to his ears. His shaky fingers scratched his neck, and he avoided eye-contact with Gray.

Natsu smelled nice…

"-What...?" Natsu's voice struggled to sound firm.

"Good morning."

The boy's lips parted, and his face glowed red.

"Could we just… go? Please? Yeah?"

Natsu pushed Gray's body away and fetched the towel, "I hate you."

"Sure you do." Gray almost scoffed, but hated to worsen Natsu's mood, then argue for two more hours. He wanted breakfast… and fast.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Gray drove the Jeep towards the mess hall. Sunglasses covered Natsu's eyes, and whenever Gray talked, Natsu gave the ' _DON'T talk to me'_ -autoreply.

Unlike the day before, they didn't have to ask for directions. As they exited the vehicle, the rattling caught his attention upwards, where two squadrons of aircrafts danced in Blue Pegasus base's sky. If he wasn't so hungry, he would have watched till the end of the drill.

With their late appearance for breakfast, lesser people occupied the hall, which worked perfect for him. It was quieter and Sergeant Gajeel wasn't lurking around, so they could eat without having to watch their backs.

They had two choices of breakfast when they reached the counter, since they came later. They either ate the traditional Japanese breakfast or ended up with Danish pancakes. Gray has chosen the Danish pancakes for them because Natsu was quiet and not in his element when food was on display.

 _'Hmm. Maybe I was insensitive…'_

The young lady on the counter offered to deliver the food to their table since the number of occupants was 'manageable', but we all know that Gray had that kinda charm that gets girls to do stuff for him.

While they waited for their food, Gray remembered Kinana. He left and didn't say goodbye… How was she taking his leave? Was she making any progress with the prick Erik? Shit… he should have called her at least. He held his phone, hesitant.

 _'After breakfast…'_

Natsu removed his sunglasses and placed them in his washed pink shirt's pocket as he raised an eye-brow.

"What?"

"Just remembered a friend at work… I left without telling her anything… and she probably thinks I'm an asshole."

"That's you. You love and leave. Nothin' new. Speaking from an experience."

"Dude, don't equalize me with perverts."

"…" Natsu tapped on the table and licked his lips, "If she's important, then you should call her... Otherwise, she'll assume you're cheating, and women are scary with that sorta thing-"

"-Woah woah woah…" Gray grunted and left his phone on the wooden surface of their table, "She's not my girlfriend, she'll understand."

"… Oh." Natsu scratched his neck, "Ok."

"I'll call her after breakfast."

"Hmm. So what about the…?"

"The?"

Natsu stared at him for a while, then blinked and looked elsewhere, "Nothing. What happens if those pancakes aren't good?"

Gray shrugged, "Not my fault. You weren't talking to me, and you didn't bother looking at your options."

Natsu glared.

"Relax, it'll be good. There is this phenomenal café that serves Danish pancakes where I used to work, and I have been addicted to these ever since."

When he was part of the working society, he visited that ladies café with colleagues and had filling energetic breakfasts… then used to look forward to working challenges. He was one of those suckers who loved the line of work they specialized in for a living.

Natsu's face had a minor frown. His eyes glanced at the people sitting outdoors from the glass panel and tried to figure them out. His hair was messy, and the white and pink striped shirt hugged his frame the right way.

Ah, though he loved it when he had a job, the days where he and Natsu used to live together and even before where they used to go to school together… these days were the best and irreplaceable. He was lucky to have Natsu with him. His existence showered Gray with the light he missed in life.

"So… before shit went real, what did you do?" Natsu asked, uncomfortable with Gray's long stare at him.

Gray crossed his fingers on the table, "You know that I'm an electrical engineer, yeah? I did that."

Natsu looked with slight amusement, "How is it? practical work…"

"Interesting, but nothing like college."

"thought so." Natsu mumbled, "I worked for a while before I went Guinea. Junior mechanical engineer. But practical work has nothing to do with theory."

Gray remembered his coworkers who were mechanical engineers as well and smiled, "You should meet this guy in our office. Senior mechanical engineer, but someone who you can learn something from. He has this unique character and air, but he's kind of an ass too."

Natsu developed a small smile, "Yeah? Is he hot?"

"Yeah—seriously?" Gray's eyebrow raised at Natsu's stunning inquiry, and a burn spread in his chest.

"What? You said I should come and meet him." Natsu looked smug and dared to show it.

"Yeah, you know what? You should meet our Managing Director's secretary. Now she's a bomb." Gray played along.

"Your Managing Director? The same Managing Director who shot you and tortured me?"

Gray smiled, "Have an open mind. She has nothing to do with it. She's a hottie dude, the best that there is."

"Sure, why not? Introduce me sometime."

Gray laughed, "So you're into women now?"

Natsu shrugged, "Psshhh, men, women, whatever. Like, look at that—there. That beauty…"

Gray looked at the lady militant and got what Natsu hinted at. The hazel sleeping in her eyes was the first he appreciated, then the pretty smile, the shiny green hair, and that unrivaled pair of giant breasts. That looked heavy to carry around.

"Dude, why does it feel so hot suddenly?" Gray grinned, "That's my boy, good eyes."

Natsu bowed, "Thank you, Thank you."

They laughed and stared at the trucks moving outside. When he saw the frown deepening on Natsu's face, he cringed internally.

"What?"

"We never got to talk about it, by the way."

"Talk about what?" Gray asked.

"This… me liking both genders, me dating a guy, me liking dicks and boobs-"

"Yeah, the bisexual you. What's to talk about?"

Natsu slapped his forehead, then his fingers rubbed on the table, "Yeah, that. I didn't mean to hide or anything, I didn't want-"

"-I'm gonna have to stop you there. I didn't realize you thought so little of me. Honestly, after all of what we went through, I don't think you wanting to touch my dick is THAT big of a problem."

Natsu hurled the fork at him, "In your dreams, asshole."

"Awww. You don't want? You would've been the happiest guy, your loss man."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Natsu laughed, then frowned again.

"Ah-oh, now what?"

"Gray…"

Fuck, here it comes.

"I… can't…" Natsu's sharp eyes pierced him, "How could all of this happen and I know nothing… that's really unfair, don't you think?"

Gray inhaled and leaned back in his seat. He knew this was coming. Last night wouldn't have been enough to put Natsu's concerns and protests to sleep.

"Do you think it's unfair?" Gray asked.

"Yes. Yes. With every fiber in my body, yes. Gray…" Natsu's eyes reddened, swirling Gray's guts.

"Dude." Gray leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table, "There was nothing I could do better. I wasn't in control. I was weak, dependent, not good enough. I… am sorry if that's hurting you now."

Natsu sighed and had his hand rubbing the bridge of his nose, and then almost growled, "That's—stop it!" He lowered his voice for people not to look at them, "We could've done something about it! Together! Gray, together!"

What the fuck Natsu? Don't make it sound so easy. Natsu didn't have an idea how he felt the last three years. For Gray they weren't three years, they were thirty.

"Your dad was so intimidating that I couldn't risk your future, okay? Sue me."

Natsu's glare intensified, and his cheeks reddened.

"You're frustrated and angry, I understand. But don't direct your anger towards me. I have spent enough time away from you, please don't add to it anymore."

The boy's olive green eyes kept looking everywhere, and pain clouded them. Natsu must deal with it somehow.

"I missed you Nat. I truly did, and I'm glad you're here. It feels like a dream-"

"-Yeah, right…" Natsu chuckled, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"Hey. I'm serious. Okay?"

"This is… so insanely hard for me to-" Natsu began.

"-That's what she said." Gray cut him off, smiling.

"You're totally ridiculous, mine was so much better."

Gray was glad he could see the danger gleam in Natsu's eyes, "You're—oh! Our meals, Finally." Gray's stomach pained. Serious starvation.

As soon as the plate was placed in front of him, he was relieved, "Can I get a bottle of water? Please."

"Sure. Room temp or cold?"

"Room temp." "Cold."

Gray and Natsu fired threatening glares at each other, battling in silence over the temperature of water that should come in with the food. The young lady stood there with a sweat-drop while watching these two immature adults struggle for domination.

" **Cold**." Gray emphasized, " _Please_."

"Ah… sure." She retreated, relief on her face as she left their table.

"Fuckhole." Natsu cursed.

"I thought travelling to Africa will enhance and change your choices."

Natsu exhaled in annoyance, "You—I'm gonna-"

"-What?"

"Why are finding every chance to make fun of my nationality?"

"So, you're Guinean now?" Gray scoffed.

"I'm both Guinean and Japanese, like it or not."

"Oh my god, do you know how silly this sounds? It's like having a white guy who's proclaiming he's from **Uganda** or some shit like that. People, look at Natsu Dragneel, he's Guinean. Not a Japanese, now laugh your asses off."

"You know what? If you can't accept me for what and who I am, then you're a terrible human being."

"Trust me, I accept you for the Japanese person you are. This Guinean Citizen BS is why you ended up in NIA's security, why you were choked to death, and why I have been shot."

"You know what racist?! You and all your typical Japanese security officers! You people despise any change mingling with your culture whatsoever, you just can't take it! But I'm a living proof that people can be-"

"Dude, that's not true, and by the way, you're one of those-"

Japanese militants, security officers, VIPs and other kind of VIPs were scrutinizing and giving them looks of annoyance because of one: Their young age, two: The context of their offending chat and clearly, one could tell who was loathed the most out of the two.

"Fuck you." Natsu whispered.

"Ok, shall we eat? I was so hungry and guess what? I'm dying out of hunger now, let's postpone this fight."

Natsu rolled his eyes and held the fork, "This bullshit got my stomach growling, let's eat."

Gray was grateful at how 'UNDERSTANDING' that sounded like, coming out of no other than Natsu.

Natsu gave a satisfied nod and moan, "That's too good. What's this called again?"

"Danish Pancakes."

"Well, I don't care what nationality they're from! Fuck, that's too good."

"That so? Great." Gray smiled, "Hand me the salt."

DO. NOT. Underestimate Danish pancakes. They possessed enough power to alter hurting crazy-insane-criminal-psychotic moods to sweet-gentle-fluffy-satisfied moods. Gray was glad that the initial conversation revolving around Natsu's father's dreadful deeds got derailed, thanks to his humble manipulative tactics, and Natsu's **super** guileless head.

He couldn't have this argument with Natsu at any cost, for the simple reason that Natsu wouldn't understand his situation three years ago.

The Japanese/Guinean boy was right, it tasted good. However, since Gray had it before in the Café where he used to work, he found out that there's no beating that, but he kept that information for himself not to ruin it for Natsu.

He was glad he could fill his stomach, and it wasn't bad, but he was a tad disappointed.

"Wow." Natsu said the word thoughtfully while chewing, "I don't think I have had a meal like this… in forever."

"Oh yeah?" Gray was busy feeding his stomach.

"In Guinea we used to have these meals delivered to us in the mines. Breakfast, Lunch, dinner. Breakfast was some banana baked stuff, tasted a bit weird at first, but they stated it was an excellent energizer."

"Dude, how did they know? I bet you miss your real _banana_ meals down in the mines where you had banana parties with other-"

"If you don't want me to stuff those pancakes down your throat until you die, you'll shut up."

Gray's shrewd smile blew up to a series of choked laughter and he choked on his food. He had this urge to roast Natsu, but saved it for another day.

"To think you refused my banana-"

"-HA. HA. I'll punch you, but unlike yesterday, those glasses won't function."

"I'll stop for now…"

"STOP FOREVER."

They have had their meal, and Natsu ordered a second plate when he was half-way eating the first one, while Gray ordered another glass of fresh orange juice. Natsu insisted to ask around to patch up Gray's glasses. Gray has taken it off when the crack annoyed him and claimed he can see fine close. Plus, the screen protection element in it wasn't necessary since he wasn't working.

But as usual, Natsu was an adamant son of a bitch.

"We're not that busy! We have all day to fool around." That was Natsu's way of convincing him.

"It's not that… I'd rather not run into people here. You never know what offends them…"

"I don't give a shit. Come on."

Gray followed Natsu in reluctance as they headed for their Jeep… except that they couldn't go so far.

Gray and Natsu froze as a group of officers stood in a horizontal line scowling at them, one guy leading them in front. They blocked their path, and Gray had this déjà vu of _Oh crap, we're in trouble, fucking again._

He got so used to it. Back in the peaceful days, the word security officer/police used to evoke shivers and respect in him, not anymore.

The military-lead examined them. He was fit enough, average height with spiky brown hair and a somewhat tanned skin tone. And who wears _that_ shade of blue sunglasses and gets away with it in the military? Gray could tell that the guy was in his late twenties, like he could tell this guy would arrest them in a few minutes.

Gray shot Natsu a look that says _You **had** to blabber about Japanese security officers being racists, dumb fucker?_

Natsu swallowed, but puffed out his chest in confidence. "Can we help?!"

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

Who is the 'Military-Lead'? Anyone guessed?

 **Next Chapter Release:** TBD. My (expectation) is 15 days, subject to change.

 **Special thanks to:** KoriNoKoibito, Guest, Guest, Jo. Thank you so much for the support and love.

 **Question by Jo: '** _The fuck does KMC mean?'_

Sorry If it wasn't clear, apologies. **K** ameda **M** edical **C** enter (KMC). This is the medical facility Natsu got admitted in after he was attacked in the airport. Gray, Natsu, and Jellal got admitted in it again after Gildarts shot Gray, and caused a fatal car accident (Chapter 6).

For all my readers, feel free to ask me anything if it wasn't clear, as well as sharing any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	11. Chapter 11

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** E **l** e **v** e **n O.** o **.O**

* * *

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The 'Military-lead' and Natsu battled with glares, but no matter how demonic Natsu's glare was, that guy resembled a leader of a pride who conspired to doom them ruthlessly. Hazel was the color of his eyes, though, an orangish threatening gleam flickered and ripped at them.

Beep.

Gray buried his hands in his pockets as the tactical truck backed up on the opposite side of the road, waiting to be: a) Arrested. b) Shot in the head. c) Arrested.

But arrested for what? And... has Gray seen this guy before?

"Ready?" The military lead commanded, "And… go!"

The military lead along with the line of the solemn soldiers bowed. Was it a special signal for arresting people?

With a shrug, Gray shared a ' _No freaking idea'_ look with Natsu who was fed up thinking because he's not capable of doing that. Yeah. That shit was destructive to Natsu's well-being.

"What… are you doing?" Natsu questioned the entire gang with a strident, defensive tone.

"Sergeant Loke. Today I apologize for harming your injured friend on behalf of Sergeant Gajeel Redfox's division!"

 _Ohhhh_. He was the one who Natsu abused for so long for **kicking** Gray's **injured** leg. Fuckkkkkkkk. The day before, when Natsu gave the guy a blue bulge on top of his eyes and cheek, Gray felt bad for him.

So he came to apologize for Gajeel? Why did a man as crass as Gajeel Redfox feel sorry about cracking a random citizen's limb?

Huh, decent, nice. A coward too.

"Ah…" Gray didn't know what to say, "Ah… Ah-"

"So he doesn't have the balls to appear here and apologize himself?! Such a-" Before Natsu continued with bullshit that deemed them thrown in the internment camp at best, Gray jabbed his torso with his elbow.

"That's—guys! How kind. WE apologize for the inconvenience we caused yesterday." Gray shot Natsu a look that says, _'You fucking talk, you fucking die!'_

The mini army before them raised their heads and the Sergeant/jackass who kicked him shook his head, "I did something terrible. It's dishonorable and for that I apologize deeply."

If Gray was a girl, he'd have fallen for the guy's 'Honorable self'. But Gray wasn't a princess. And no, he didn't fall for the guy, he was lacking words to say and apprehensive.

Natsu raised his nose and turned his glowering face away.

"Ah, thanks. Apology accepted!" Gray approached to shake hands with Sergeant Loke and yelled at himself not to laugh loud at the guy's battered features, "We're gonna dash-we have… things… to do, so! See you-"

"—You're not going anywhere." The Sergeant glared for good ten seconds before his lips let out a wide smile, "We decided to show you around and treat you for lunch, right Lily?"

"I'm afraid so…" A big man (Lily) answered.

Was the serial-killer look a prerequisite for military enrolment? At least be neutral when you're apologizing, let alone offering your fucking services.

"Ah…" Gray wasn't comfortable, but he couldn't decline and upset them.

"Perfect timing!" Natsu moved, and picked the glasses from Gray's pocket, "Do you know where we can fix this?"

"Wait Natsu-" That idiot! Is he nuts to ask a SERGEANT about trivial matters?!

"Ah…" Sergeant Loke took the glasses and examined them with care, then nodded, "Follow me."

* * *

"You're mad… dude, you're out of your mind." Gray whispered.

"What's your problem? He said he knows a place, period." Natsu said.

Loke beamed as he drove them in his own Jeep, with Lily next to him. The newspapers and petrol scent hit Gray, like when it did to him in Sergeant Gajeel's office. It thickened when they entered the mess hall, or around the people in the blue Pegasus base.

Strange.

The aircraft training continued, and Gray regarded it with irritated blurred vision as the Sergeant provided them with guidance. They stopped at a workshop where Sergeant Loke led Gray to perform an eye-test first. Later, they were promised they'd have the glasses ready by the end of the day.

That fast? The facility was decent too. With all the synthetic parts and machinery thrown around, the magnificent lab hidden behind the tiny reception, it was more of a giant Orthotics workshop.

Speaking about facilities… Sergeant Loke gave them a brief orientation in their Pegasus Grand Intelligence Institute. It was as if another huge base existed in the Blue Pegasus Military base. The red-brick building stood pompously with its neo-classical german style that adapted to Japanese aesthetics.

It had a _grand_ multi-story library, a strong solid section for martial arts, scary gun shooting tracks, archery tracks and fun tracks like bowling.

They have bowling. So militants have fun times too?

Not to mention the theory classes for young people who studied in parallel to serving the government. Holy… their campus put Gray's and Natsu's university to shame.

By the time they checked out half of the Pegasus Grand Intelligence Institute, their stomachs protested. Natsu and Gray froze when they saw the numbers of militants exiting the Institute to have lunch.

How many hundreds were in there?

Sergeant Loke escorted them to the huge institute's cafeteria for lunch, and it was more refined than the mess hall they dined at. Two civilians surrounded by fifteen other militants parading in the campus attracted attention, one that made his knees bounce.

"Ah, so we can!" Natsu's eyes twinkled.

"You could register for the class since you have the general's card with you."

Natsu discussed with Sergeant Loke joining the martial arts training class temporarily, and the guy was more than delighted to answer his queries. Throughout the course of the day, Natsu and Sergeant Loke grew chatty/friendly, and... It was a good thing after Natsu had sabotaged him yesterday.

Sergeant Loke turned out to be humble, funny, and friendly.

"Sorry for those…" Natsu pointed at Sergeant Loke's eye and cheek-bump, "You're actually a good guy!"

Loke offered Natsu a warm smile, "You're not so bad yourself." And assured Natsu forgiveness by a light squeeze on the shoulder.

Spots of red and purple aroused in Gray's vision as he pursed his lips. Too _friendly_ for his taste.

"Republic of Guinea? You're Guinean?" Loke's soup-filled spoon stopped midway to his mouth, "You look so… so Japanese…"

"I keep telling him that." Gray snorted.

Natsu jabbed Gray lightly to the side, "Yup, I'm Japanese too. I haven't stayed there in Guinea for that long though."

"That's _fantastic!_ I've always been curious about Africa. How's it there?"

You've always been curious about Africa _my foot!_ Did this guy think signifying his idiot friend's trip this way would get him anywhere? What the fuck was there in Africa to be curious about?! Zebras?!

Why… was he signifying Natsu's trip? What was he after? Gray stabbed his chicken with a twitching eyebrow as he watched them chat, Natsu speaking nonsense about Guinea with flushed cheeks, and Sergeant Loke repeating _Ahs_ and husky _Ohs_.

Lunch sucked, and the orange chicken caused Gray's stomach discomfort.

 _Shit,_ this guy rubbed Natsu's ego the right way, and Natsu likes it when people do that. Let's not ignore the subtle touches on the shoulder, the arm, etc.

 _'Stop or I'll pull out my non-existent rifle and eradicate you.'_

Eradicate you? Oh my god. How childish.

Gray clenched his fist under the square-shaped wooden table.

As promised, Gray got his glasses, and Sergeant Loke drove them back to their parked Jeep at the mess hall where he first kidnapped them. His lungs hurt watching both hug 'brotherly style' as they parted ways, and he couldn't do shit about it. Sergeant Loke has set his eyes on the pink haired fool, no doubt…

Out of all the dazzling militants in the military base, why pick out _his_ fool?

* * *

Gray's grip clenched around the wheel with aggravation-stained blood pumping through his veins.

He drove the Jeep while recalling the image of Natsu hugging someone other than him. Smiling to someone other than him.

 _'You're so **ridiculous** Gray.'_

He needed to remind himself repeated _ly_ , that Natsu wasn't his. Natsu's a **friend** , nothing more, and Gray preferred it that way, so why… why would his chest ache? It's sick and selfish of him to act possessive and think Natsu belonged to him even after those three years...

Natsu's feelings slept in a shell that settled far, so far down the pacific ocean. He assumed with baseless confidence that Natsu felt the same, according to signals his wishful thinking created.

He was just _overprotective_. Natsu's his friend, so yeah, that must be it. And, And there's nothing WRONG with that.

 _'Don't blow a fuse yet… things are simpler than you imagine them to be.'_

"I had expected the worst. The biggest jackass had a heart after all. And Loke? He is a cool man, right?"

Natsu didn't help Gray's escalating blood pressure. Why wouldn't Natsu shut the fuck up about this guy already? Gray had to focus not to run into any of the trucks as the red and black spots tarnished his vision again.

"You alright? Man, where're we going?"

What If Natsu liked this guy? For how long were they staying in this place? They needed to get out and fast.

"Gray."

A hand shook his shoulder.

"What?" Gray's voice was venomous. He shrugged Natsu's hand on his shoulder like it had burned him.

Natsu blinked at his attitude and gaped at his own hand.

"We passed by our unit eons ago. Where're you taking us?"

What?!

Gray pressed on the brakes, jerking Natsu's body forward.

He stared at his surroundings, and cursed, unbuckling his seatbelt. Why was everything so jumbled in his head when it came to Natsu?

He got off the car and walked towards the grass, exhaling the toxic pants in his chest, hands in his waist.

A bang echoed, and steps approached him.

"Everything alright?"

The speckles of brown in Natsu's alligator-chartreuse eyes shined and sparkled fire when the low sunset rays hit them, and god, they were so beautiful. He could look at them all day.

Natsu's whole was a beauty, and he didn't deserve it. People like Sergeant Loke did. They were straightforward, brave, and worked for what they wanted. A coward like Gray who hid behind millions of excuses wasn't suitable for Natsu.

Natsu scratched on the scar of his neck under Gray's frosty gaze and squinted his eyes to protect it from the sunlight.

"You-"

 _'What do you think of me?'_

What Gray? You fucking don't know? He moved on, he almost got married, and now, there's someone who's better than you for him. He's not yours.

Like in the past, the mark dwelling inside Gray's body awakened to distance him from what he wanted. From Natsu. It glowed in his chest and sealed his heart with a seal that pulsed.

"You?" Natsu inquired, squinting at the sun glare.

He swallowed, and pursed his lips, "You… drive. I don't feel good."

"Huh? What's wrong, what-" Natsu pulled his arm, and Gray shoved him, almost knocking Natsu to the ground.

"…" Without a word, Gray opened the backseat door and laid down, replaying Loke's scenes with Natsu during the day.

Minutes later, Natsu stirred the engine, and slammed the driver's door shut. WAIT, Natsu was gonna be in charge of the wheel?! SHIT.

Natsu drove about hundreds of meters, and boy. He wasn't puking, he was fast, dramatic improvement. He would've commented positively on this if he was in a different mood.

Does that have to do with his job in Guinea too?

"… How are you feeling?"

Gray shielded his eyes with his arm, "I need to rest for a while."

"Pussy." Natsu mocked.

Usually, that comment would seduce Gray into an endless curse-exchange quarrel with Natsu, but he wasn't in that mood. He denied Natsu what he wished.

Yes, yes, yes. Gray was being a chicken, flinching at anything and scratching everyone crossing his personal space.

Natsu parked the car and Gray hopped off.

Although they stayed in Unit 8 for one night, it resembled home. The tension in his muscles dissipated as he reached it and removed his shoes, then proceeded to take his medication, rest against the bed, and fucking forget all the bullshit of today.

… As soon as he rids his arm of Natsu's steel grip. Gray questioned it with a hot glare and a clenched jaw.

"Can you tell me what's wrong now?" Natsu asked.

Gray pulled his arm, but no luck. Natsu was adamant on pulling an answer.

"I told you I'm not feeling good."

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with you and me?"

"Do me a favor? Stop asking these girly questions and let go. I need to have my medication."

Gray stared at Natsu, expectant. The pink haired let him go, Gray rubbed where he had his grip on him and left.

"I have just got you back!" Natsu yelled, "… and now I don't… Why the hell are you doing this?"

Gray marched towards Natsu, his blood boiling as he entered Natsu's personal bubble with flared nostrils—his initial goal was to intimidate, but he couldn't bring himself to maintain his ' _Talk to me and you're dead_ ' glare. Not when Natsu's chin trembled, or when he broke before him.

This ' _why are you doing this to me?'_ Look weakened Gray's core. Natsu pulled his lips in a thin white line as he expected Gray to lash out on him when all Gray was thinking, is to bring back those lips their color.

But… he can't. He won't do this to Natsu. He too has just got Natsu back as a friend; he wouldn't do this to him.

Before he comes back at the boy, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He growled as he checked it, and he was glad he did.

Because it was a text from Hibiki Lates.

 _Conference call in thirty minutes._

He showed Natsu the text. Both had to put aside their quarrel and set up their laptop for Hibiki's call.

* * *

 **Fukuoka, Japan – 8:00PM – Blue Pegasus Base, Unit 8**

Hibiki Lates has given them a _special_ laptop linked to the Defense Intelligence server through VPN access. Why the paranoia? WELL, that's the part where he understands what the fuck was going on in their lives.

"… Harmony is oozing out of you boys."

It was good to see Hibiki, but not listening to his blunt sarcasm. He and Natsu sat half a meter apart, both crossed their arms on their chests, and scowled.

"Tell me something I don't know." Natsu snorted.

"Do I ask, or are you gonna sort it out yourselves?"

"There's nothing to sort out." Gray spoke through his teeth.

"Nothing, huh?" Natsu's jaw dropped, and turned to face him instead of the screen, "You're terrible at this, ok?"

"Bad time to call the old married couple?" Hibiki cleared his throat, his fingers tapping on his office desk.

"Unbelievable…" Natsu shot as they turned away from each other, his cheeks shifting to crimson.

Gray let the exasperated sigh in his chest out, and shook his head, "We're okay, go on."

"I have good news and bad news. Which should I start with?" Hibiki rested his chin on his palm and his lips curved in a weak smile.

Natsu and Gray cringed and the pink haired boy replied first, "Good news please."

"Alright." Hibiki pressed a key on his keyboard which popped a window next to his footage on the screen.

The window had another person joining the group chat. Gray freed a huge grin, holy shit. Ambassador Jellal Fernandes waved his hand to them, his eyes drooped with a dark shade below, and a brown blanket covered him as he sat on a hospital bed.

When Gray left Narita, Jellal was in a comma, and they thought he'll stay in it for the next six months—no wonder Hibiki Lates has come out of his shell and spoke to them. The blonde worried for Jellal Fernandes like no one else mattered and his mood was bullshit.

"Hola. Guys, good to see you again." It sounded raspy and weak, but it was better than Jellal in a comma.

"Oh my god!" Natsu's grin broke out too. He got so close from the screen, his cheeks inflaming with excitement, "Gosh, are you alright?! When…?"

Jellal smiled, but it was frail, "Sunday… It's crazy. I thought I was dead all along."

"Man, this is great. We can't describe how we feel right now; it can't be explained with simple words. You helped us a lot, and… we felt guilty leaving without seeing you first. Blame Hibiki-san for that." Gray said.

"Nah, it's alright. Hibiki-san has his reasons." Jellal coughed with a laugh.

Hibiki continued, "So, the ambassador is still in recovery mode, but his situation isn't critical."

"That's… amazing…" Natsu's hand rested on his chest. Natsu had been worried over Jellal since the guy was the reason he was out of trouble.

"Now… bad news," Hibiki Interfered, "It's more of an update."

"Ok?" Natsu crossed his legs on the sofa and listened.

"Gildarts Clive." His mere name put a deep frown on their faces, "He's known for being the managing director for Naunheimer Consolidated, your company. He's a prominent member of its board and… he owns a medium size business of his own."

"He does?" Gray raised an eyebrow, "Now that's something I don't know. What kind of business? WWA?"  
"WWA?" Hibiki raised an eye-brow.

"World. Wide. Assassination?" Gray clarified in a serious tone.

The Defense Intelligence General shifted through papers on his desk, "Nope. He owns a shipping company, hence, the connection between him and Ondrej Jeremiah."

Natsu rubbed his hair, "It's as clear as mud."

Natsu and Gray never understood the connection between Ondrej and Gildarts. And Hibiki stole Natsu's senses with the upcoming reveal. First Sergeant Loke, then this guy Ondrej, or was it the opposite? How come there're many men in Natsu's life? At one point, Gray had harbored two ounces of hostility towards Jellal Fernandes too…

Gray rolled his eyes at his sick thoughts and listened.

"I'm not surprised." Hibiki chuckled, "It's time you know MORE about your boyfriend—or husband—or whatever."

"He's not my _husband_ , and I'm sure we indirectly _broke up_ after I had _run off_."

"Whatever. He's one of the worst drug dealers in Guinea, and for us, a felon and wanted in **prison**."

"Huh?" Natsu's face turned white. Gray was… 'surprised' was the right word. Natsu made friends with many people (Delinquents, back in high school), but never the dangerous ones, and definitely not those who should go to prison.

And he was gonna marry this guy? Dude, what?

"You have eternity to be shocked. Moving on, your husband contacted Gildarts—and when I say contacted, I mean hardcore contact with beating up and everything. He wanted your managing director," Hibiki spoke to Gray, "-to ship his precious drugs from Italy to Guinea because Gildarts's shipping company has the connections to do it with relative ease."

"…" It was Gray's turn to widen his eyes.

"Gildarts refused, and Ondrej didn't take no for an answer. He threatened to obliterate Cana Alberona, also known as, Gildarts's only biological daughter."

"… The fuck…?" There was a traffic jam consisting of information in Gray's head.

"The loving father couldn't go to the police and risk his daughter slaughtered, so he agreed to transfer a small shipment while digging for any dirt to come back at Ondrej or even locate him so he can go all postal on him… the **dirt** he found was his lover, **you**." Hibiki looked back at Natsu.

"He believed since you were his lover, you would locate Ondrej and even if you didn't, he could use you as the perfect counter hostage. The rough treatment that you faced in the airport was the pressure Gildarts was under. It's either he risked his daughter's life, or he sabotaged you to get information on Ondrej… that brings me back to **you**." Hibiki locked eyes with Gray.

"You were his perfect eye. He knew everything about Natsu, and your relationship with him. Natsu, Gray was never your number one emergency contact, am I right?"

Natsu swallowed… "Yes… I didn't… expect Gray to be the one to come."

"-Because it's your father. Someone has messed with your phone and altered the data so that Gray's contact number would be the first—An accomplice."

Accomplice? WOAH.

"Erza Scarlet. We know it wasn't deliberate, and it's complicated, but she was removed from her position at aviation security and on her way to the Blue Pegasus base to spend disciplinary time."

Was _'Disciplinary'_ another term for _'being tortured'_? Because if it wasn't, Gray would make sure it is. That woman…? Erza freaking-booby scarlet? The deranged, psychotic woman who wanted Natsu in prison for seven years? Gray had enough of surprises.

"Now we come to the important part. Natsu, I'm gonna ask you two questions. One, did you know about Ondrej's leading narcotics business?"

"What…?" Natsu pinched between his eyes, fainting with the reveal of the day, "Are you serious?! He does narcotics?! You people are **sure** of that?! Isn't there some sort of **mistake** or-"

"-ok, that answers my question. Two, if you knew that Gray wasn't your number one contact, why didn't you say anything then?"

Natsu blinked and had the same gaping look, "Around that time… My dad had an important conference in Austria and-"

Hibiki sighed, "I understand. Gray, you and I were used by Gildarts as an information channel, and eventually, you would've told him anything that Natsu mentions about the case… then he became impatient because Ondrej wanted him shipping a huge shipment… one that he didn't wanna take even if he risks his daughter's safety."

Chills tickled Gray's spine. He knew he was responsible for Natsu's misery, but… he didn't need to hear it over and over.

Hibiki adjusted to a serious posture, with his back straight, "Ondrej's location is yet to be identified. Until then, stay put. Ondrej is a dangerous man, and he won't tolerate risks. Natsu is a risk. He needs to get to you first before Gildarts does. We've been using Gildarts to track his next move, therefore, he believes Gildarts is free and after your ass. You're his only weakness and he needs it crushed."

Natsu gritted his teeth and his eyes hid behind his pink strands of hair.

Jellal interrupted, "Natsu, I know it's hard to imagine that your boyfriend is a criminal, but have no doubt when we tell you that Ondrej's web of connections is terrible and deep, and before we can grab him, you can't do anything reckless."

Hibiki exhaled, exhausted, "That is the case, yes. Questions?"

"Can you freaking get Erza Scarlet sent off somewhere else?! Like, Siberia is a quiet comfy place." Gray didn't want this woman living in the same base, even if the chances of meeting with her slimmed to zero. This WHOLE mess was on her shoulders.

"Boys," Jellal said, "Erza is innocent-"

"-like any of them care." Hibiki countered with a twitching golden eye-brow.

"Hibiki-san, just because you have personal issues with her, doesn't mean that she's a malevolent villainous titania or whatever you call her." Interesting, Jellal Fernandes can be provoked? Usually, he won't stir arguments of the sort.

But Jellal said once Natsu was innocent, and it was true… and if he says Erza is innocent… then?

"Do you realize that my personal issues with her are **you**? And she is villainous! Hello! How many did she almost-kill in practice? I don't know how they allow her to be within our organization. I hope this is a lesson learnt for them to take an action."

"She brings results. That's why she's in your organization."

"You and your childhood crush."

"It has nothing to do with it and you know that!"

"You're so lame. You're a mighty ambassador, yet you're chicken to ask her out."

"Stop spreading faulty information-"

"—Faulty information my ass. Go ask her out, get laid, and chill. Shall I ask her for you? I'm sure she would love it—Oh wait! Can't, cause she's in Redfox's jurisdiction point!"

"Yeah and you had to send her there of all places! You call her a titania, what are **you**?"

"For your info, it wasn't me who decided. It came from the director so if you have a problem, speak with him."

"You're kidding…" Jellal sputtered, "She's… his favorite. Why would he do that?"

"This world is screwed up, how would I know? Didn't sleep for seventy-two hours and I can't make sense of anything—"

"—I still don't get it. The director? You gotta be kidding me."

"Yeah, I mean Gajeel man… it's not… pleasant. I feel bad…"

-Silence.

"Are you home? Assuming you're not hoteling it?" Jellal inquired.

"Well done Sherlock, what's the purpose of this question?" Hibiki chuckled, "You finally realized you need to sleep with me instead?"

"I need someone to get me out of this hospital, I'm sick of it, but since you're being such a preposterous asshole, I'll use my authority and get my pilot to fly me back to NYC tonight, see you! Bye guys!"

Jellal's window disappeared.

"DON'T YOU DARE! This freaking idiot! Here are the next sleepless 24 hours!"

Hibiki's window disappeared.

Wow. That went from pleasant, to hostile, to I hate your guts, to friendly, to our relationship has ended in a flash.

Gray shared a baffled look with Natsu, and sighed.

And they called _Natsu and Gray_ an old married couple.

* * *

"Why does it always have to be drugs with you?" Gray sighed.

"Hell if I know." That was Natsu's monotonous, lifeless answer.

Natsu laid on his right side, knees curling half-way towards his chest, and his pink hair sprawled on the beige sofa. He had massive info to process, it overwhelmed him to point his head spun, and he needed to lie down and not scream.

Gray found sachets of green tea, hibiscus tea, coffee, Nescafe, red tea, and others he hadn't heard about in their mini kitchen… and the hibiscus tea suited Natsu's situation.

He placed the steaming beverage on the glass coffee table, and sat on the floor next to Natsu's upper half on the sofa. Natsu's dull eyes twisted something inside Gray, and it was uncomfortable. He smacked Natsu's forehead playfully so that Natsu snaps out of it.

"I'll decapitate you one day… not today though. Not today..." Natsu stared ahead, ignoring Gray's harassment.

"What are you thinking of?"

"Your cool grandma." Natsu grunted, "You know _what_."

Natsu's spirit left his body, and his complexion was unhealthy.

"Did you know about the narcotics business? I know what you told Hibiki-san, but be honest with me. Love is blind and all. Got that."

Natsu inhaled, "Heck no." He chuckled, "Negative."

Gray searched for lying signs, but Natsu's state disappointed his attempt. Ok, it was worse than he thought.

"You have been with this guy for how long? How could you not? Are you an idiot?"

Natsu offered a hysterical laugh, "Hahaha! This is hilarious! I am an idiot! Yeah man, you're right!"

Gray rolled his eyes and sipped from his own cup, "I know I'm right, you dumb fuck."

"Hey, isn't that like the godfather with Michael and shit? Hahaha, guess whaaaat baby?! Movies are so REAL." Natsu laughed for a few more minutes and rubbed the tears from his eyes, "Dude, how is this possible? I still think there's a mistake or something…"

 _Denial_ is the First state of an upcoming Natsu depression.

"I'm sure Hibiki won't break this to us if he wasn't certain."

"Haaaa… so funny. So goddamn funny…"

"Not only that, but also, he wants you dead, idiot."

"Hahaha, yeah. I told you, movies are so real. I want to see him saying Ice'em, so badly! He'll be sexy then. Like, Ice'em—epic, right?"

Oh, Natsu dear. His friend was in crisis mode and he backed off because when Natsu entered that state, there was no telling what the boy might do.

"Hahaha…" Natsu laughed again, "Let's not assume dark things, He wouldn't harm me… they're exaggerating... he wouldn't…"

Natsu told himself that more than Gray.

Gray crossed his legs, "What makes you so sure after all this?"

"What nonsense. Listen, Ondrej might want to own me, possess me, trap me forever, but kill me? **No.** He doesn't want that."

"So…"

Natsu laughed and looked at him, "What? Hahaha… you disappoint me. No more insults?"

His friend stared off at nothing. Gray imagined all the feelings Natsu experienced. Betrayal, dread, fear, then more betrayal. Natsu saw the fake Ondrej those past two years… the real one wasn't as fun and loving. Hell, Gray was curious about Ondrej as a character for a while, but Hibiki assured Gray that he's better off in another continent.

"Please tell me this is a lie..." Natsu muttered.

Heck, Gildarts was a hero compared to Natsu's boyfriend. He was badass enough to stand up to the Guinean and fight back.

"The boyfriend-"

"Don't you _ever_ say that _word_ …" Natsu kept staring off at nothing, "Never, _ever_."

"…" Gray scoffed at the boy's lost expression, "… Did you notice anything weird in his behavior when you dated him?"

"I know what you're hinting at. Despite everything that these people are saying, he's normal, Gray. There wasn't anything that he didn't share with me, that's why it baffles me he wasn't effusive enough to let me know about the narcotics deal."

"My bad." Gray was furious, "Let's not poke the subject. Hey, I know it's a lot to take in-"

"-That's what she said." Natsu said it while gazing in the emptiness and earned a smack from Gray on his shoulder.

"You serious?" Gray's eyes protruded. Natsu was losing it.

They spent an hour more in silence. Natsu closed his eyes and opened them many times, hinting at the excess of thinking, and the fatigue of the long day. They have toured a forty thousand square meters institute or maybe fucking more, so it's not strange.

And the news sacked him. Murdered the bits of his cheery self, especially when it came after Gray's reveal the day before.

 _'Poor guy...'_

Gray wanted Natsu wrapped in his embrace. He wanted to kiss him all over until he forgets everything, but all he did was watch and not worsen the situation.

"Gray…" Natsu swallowed.

Gray sipped from the hibiscus tea, "Hmm?"

"I don't know what I could've done… if… you weren't here like this."

 _'Oh…'_ a flush covered Gray's ears, "I'm not doing much though."

"Trust me." Natsu lazily spoke, "You're helping. So much…"

"Right." If Natsu didn't stop bullshitting, Gray will kiss him, "I'm one of your problems, remember?"

"Never." Natsu shook his head, "You'll never be one either. You make it better… you make all better…"

Natsu softened Gray's heart until it transformed to a fucking marshmallow and if he realized what kind of danger he put himself into, or the effect of his words, he wouldn't throw them around carelessly.

"Shit… I'm not making any sense now…"

"No, you're not." Gray tangled his fingers in the wondrous pink hair, "How about we call it a day?"

"Agreed. But… can't move. I'll sleep here today. Be a dear and fetch me a blanket, will you?"

"I'll do you even better." Gray stood and stretched, "I'll carry you to bed… If I didn't, we must call this sofa spot, the 'Revelations and shock upon Natsu' spot."

"…" Natsu's scoffed.

Gray stretched his arms, and prayed his injury won't protest much, "Here we go."

He scooped the spiritless boy in his arms, and faked a groan, "Your bones are so heavy."

"…"

At first, Natsu's reaction was that of a flipping dying fish. Gray had to stare blankly at Natsu for a second, then hug him to his chest to calm. And… it was surprisingly easy.

"Nope. Stay still."

Natsu melted Gray's coolness all the while he rested in his grip, and Gray's desire sparked in less than five seconds. But he scolded himself and acted civil.

"Okay." The pink haired surrendered.

His lower part throbbed, but he stomped on it, tamed it with a unicorn image and climbed the stairs.

"… Man, are you getting fat?" Gray teased.

"Put me down."

"No."

"Then stop the ridiculous remarks and suffer in silence."

"Fine. Be spoiled. After today, I'll kick your ass."

The blush on Natsu's face intensified as he held on Gray's shirt. "If I fall, I'll kick your ass!"

As soon as he reached their room, he tossed Natsu on the bed and panted.

"That was fun…"

"Fuck, you're a kid." Gray went to the bathroom. He discarded his constricting clothes, slipped into shorts, and was all set for sleep.

But Natsu was in his gaping fish-state, and it irritated him.

"Come on. Get up and change. You can't sleep like that."

"…"

He exhaled a soft sigh, then looked in their suitcase for comfortable clothes Natsu can sleep in, shoved them in Natsu's hands and gave him a silent order to change.

By the time they both settled in bed, Gray was super eager to sleep (after taking all his drugs), but Natsu wasn't. Ondrej's vast subject killed Natsu's brain cells with malicious thoughts that would keep him awake for the entire night.

" **Natsu**." He rested his palm on Natsu's forehead, then pushed his bangs back, "Things like that happen for a good reason. I know it sucks."

"I thought we were close enough not to keep secrets from one another..."

"…" He didn't want to say it, but he did, "It happens... I had friends who were great at one point and then… I saw them for who they are. We were close enough and look at what I did to you. If that hasn't taught you a tough lesson regarding trusting people blindly, I don't know what will."

Natsu turned his head until he faced Gray on his right and glared.

"You're different. You're not comparable to anyone else."

He chuckled, "Fuck, I'm the worst then."

Natsu sighed, and turned fully to face Gray, his watering eyes locked with his, and it worried him. Those eyes scared the shit out of him... cause they could delve deep into his thoughts and expose him.

"I know this is gonna sound crazy… but, I don't want them to use me to arrest him… towards me, he did nothing wrong."

Natsu is loyal, that's what he is… always and forever. It bothered him that someone as illegal as Ondrej has obtained Natsu's loyalty.

"He'll do you wrong if they don't arrest him..."

"He won't…"

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"

"Shit…" Natsu covered his mouth with his palm and exhaled.

"Exactly." Gray's tone softened, "How about you forget everything and try to sleep? God knows I can't keep this up."

"You're asking the impossible…"

Gray hummed, thoughtful as his eyes closed. He then smiled, "Think of your favorite TV show."

A snort was his answer.

"No? Ok, no. How about heaven where sexy men are surrounding you with all the shapes and sizes? Now that's cool, right? Very soothing and peaceful."

Natsu gasped then hit Gray's face with the pillow.

"That's not soothing. That's sexually frustrating. Fuck you and how you think!"

Oh. Oh. Oh, he didn't think of that. How didn't he think of that?

"No. no. no no no, shit, go back to the TV show thing. Please, I know the temp-"

This time, when Natsu smacked him with the pillow, his nose hurt.

"My dick numbed after receiving Hibiki's gifts today. Don't worry about a thing."

"Oh~" The pillow muffled Gray's sly tone until he removed it, with a smirk tugging at his mouth.

"You're in bed with me, isn't that good enough to bring it back to life?"

"You're so full of yourself." Natsu blurted, his neck reddening, then turned away.

"Ouch. I've been told by many that I'm the sexiest shit on earth." Gray ran his fingers up and down Natsu's spine, enjoying Natsu's breathless gasp.

The pink haired slapped his hand without turning and yelled, "Who the hell? Either sexy people have gone extinct, or their eyes need serious cleaning up—"

"—Sure about that?"

Gray pushed Natsu's shoulder on the bed and loomed over Natsu with his body. His arms were on either side of Natsu's head, his thumb caressing the scar of his friend's neck. Despite of the fatigue, he managed to put on a smug smirk, "Look closely. Maybe **_your_ **eyes need cleaning up, no?"

The Vanilla, sea-foam richness tickled his nose, and incited his mouth. Natsu froze under him with beautiful red growing everywhere on the delicious skin. His ears, his cheeks… He needed to smash their lips together, and taste Natsu's flavor.

To think someone got to Natsu before him… and he allowed it to happen. His friend escaped his pinning gaze however way he could. The heat of his body warmed Gray's bare skin and pulled him in.

Gray deserved a platinum medal for 'resisting the temptation'.

His goofy smile broke the tension, "Idiot. Sleep." He flicked his fingers at Natsu's forehead then settled on the bed.

The cool, calm, and arrogant look on his face was a façade to _'Wait for it, he is gonna kick me in the_ _nuts…'_

When Natsu did nothing, Gray was surprised, and bugged Natsu's back of head with his stare.

 _'Too many thoughts going on in there I see…'_

Natsu has let him go so far without sabotaging one of his organs, and that's good.

Somewhere, when Gray's eyelids were heavy with sleep, Natsu rolled back and rested between Gray's arms. And it wasn't fair. He couldn't enjoy it, and he was gonna sue his doctor for those sleep-inducing pills when he's back to Narita.

"G… night… ay…"

Natsu's hot touch on his cheek lulled him to sleep that he couldn't resist any longer.

* * *

Natsu comprised of many things that shouldn't be in someone you're living with or you've got the hots for, but can't let them know.

Major issue number one: His fucking form. He was handsome in Tank tops, t-shirts, shorts and Jeans. Back in high school, when they ran to accustom their bodies to harsher conditions and ended up dirty by the end of the day, he looked the best with his breath-taking smile and the smudge of rain and mud across his cheeks.

But that's not true. When he didn't have a shirt on, that was his best. Fuck, for years and years, Gray had seen him naked on different occasions, yet, it wouldn't stop elevating his excitement or his pulses of need.

And… Gray couldn't stop looking. Or desiring. Or hoping.

As he sat on one stair step, Natsu stretched in a push-up plank in the living room, ignorant of Gray's presence. Their communication laptop was next to him on full volume, playing pumping metal. His posture was ruler straight, his core deliciously tightened, the drumming and bass echoed in his quivering shoulders that struggled to keep him still.

His plank and posture was so perfect that Gray wanted to test it. To see how far it can go without shattering. He wanted to be the one to twist it. He wanted to settle below Natsu, have his fingers trace all the fine contours of muscles. To ghost over the pink hardened nipples, then loosen the knee-length shorts laces, and explore those lower, much lower muscles.

Would Natsu keep up that splendid form? Or would Gray break him?

Those pearly beads of sweat that spun on his back, and kissed his lips… they stirred Gray who had two options. Either attack Natsu, or move out of Unit 8.

When that drumming and bass drilled his ears and jerked him off his heavy slumber in the morning, Gray was ready to stuff the human responsible for the inconvenience with those instruments, then kill him for sure.

Somehow, killing didn't seem like the proper action. Punishing Natsu in several other ways would be more soothing to Gray's aching hard-on.

 _'This isn't gonna work. Fuck.'_

The drought in his throat continued to worsen as he allowed himself to stare more.

 _'… What kind of injustice this is?'_

It was past eleven in the morning (drugs are the devil), and Gray was devastated. **No** breakfast, and he must wait three more hours before lunch. Also, **no** fucking, and he'll have to wait forever and even then, time will laugh at him because it won't happen.

Gray did himself a favor when he wore his _baggy_ pants before seeing Natsu _that_ way. When the drumming annoyed him enough, he carried himself towards Natsu, and kneeled, then lowered the music.

"Morning… sleeping princess~" Natsu panted as he maintained his plank posture.

"I was sleeping." His voice sounded thicker than he intended.

"Payback's a bitch."

"You serious?" Did Natsu remember to hold a grudge for the day before? After the serious talk from Hibiki? He prioritized annoying Gray?

"Yeah. Dude, your shirt's missing."

"Don't wanna hear that from _you_. Why are you doing that now anyway?" Gray rubbed his hair and yawned, still thinking of touching the damp lean muscles.

"Warming up. Gonna be joining this afternoon's triathlon and I'm in the mood of winning."

"Joining what?"

Huh…?

"Didn't you listen to Sergeant Loke yesterday—fuck, no more!" Natsu broke his plank posture and sat breathless, blood about to burst from his cheeks. He gulped water and some of it slid from his mouth to neck then his bare stomach, "He asked us to join."

"I don't remember we said yes." Gray scratched his head.

"We didn't say no. It's perfect for me… to not think, you know?"

"I figured that much."

"Let's go have breakfast, I'm starving." Natsu said, "And I need a shower."

"We missed breakfast remember?" Gray stood and stretched.

"Nope. I made us breakfast."

"You…?"

Natsu nodded and ushered Gray towards the dining table. He swallowed at the sight of the scrambled eggs, the grilled tomatoes, and sausages. There was coffee too.

"When—no, that's not it… How are you able to cook? Last I checked you were standing next to my microwave with an exploded egg smashed into the false ceiling." It happened, three years ago, "Not to mention the 'roasted' chicken, the one that got roasted to crisp, remember? What happened to you Harumi Kurihara-san?"

Natsu cracked up all the while Gray thought about it, "Dude, you spoiled me. I lived with someone who was equally helpless for a long time, so I learned survival cooking. It's below decent, don't think fancy. Think quick and dirty." Nostalgia dripped from Natsu's tone, "I used to daydream about the dishes you cooked—like karaage… or kare-pan."

They sat to have their grand breakfast, and Natsu reminded Gray that he needed a shirt, and Gray insisted he liked it that way. Gray _loved_ seeing Natsu shirtless first thing in the morning, but wished it could happen when he's ABLE to act on it. He should just enjoy it… especially, when Natsu's tongue licked the food off his finger then sucked it.

This was seduction. Natsu was trying to seduce him.

 _'Yeah right.'_

Damn it. The food didn't taste like cow shit as it was supposed to.

"Thanks for going through all the trouble." Gray offered a smile.

Natsu shook his head, "I HAD to. Otherwise you'd be a cranky bastard the whole morning."

"It's not so horrible."

"Fuck you."

"Sure, why not? Let me know whenever you're ready."

Natsu rolled his eyes, but a blush tainted his face, fiercely, "You're crazy."

How ODD. Natsu's stable mood stirred questions. Was he holding it together despite of last night's findings? Not that he minded, but he was curious. Was Natsu wrecked from the inside and Gray failed to see it?

Natsu let out a nervous chuckle, then raised an eyebrow, "Something funny on my face?"

"Nah." He shrugged and continued eating, and the sausage tasted perfect and juicy. "You didn't tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"How—no, where did you get all of this? The ingredients… You went shopping or something?"

"Ahhhhh." Natsu chewed his food, "Haha. I couldn't sleep well… Then at an ungodly hour, I was hungry, so I looked for something to eat around here and I met Loke." He explained, "I ate a sandwich before this and waited for you to wake up."

"Huh? Loke?"

It's official. Gray hated Sergeant Loke. It was such a good feeling to admit this to himself.

"Yeah. He was the one who told me about the store I got the ingredients from. We visited it together. Dude, finally! I thought they had nothing like that here. He also reminded me of the training, and I agreed."

Gray sneered inwards. This so called 'Loke', where the fuck did he come from? So he _is_ perusing Natsu, he wasn't _imagining_ things.

"You go have fun." Gray's stomach hardened as he chewed, "I'll spend the afternoon reading a book or something."

"Why? It'd be good if you come too-"

"-It's a triathlon, with all those injuries, I'm sure I can't."

Natsu glared, crossing his arms on the dining table, "This silly excuse won't work with me. You're fine, I can feel it. You've come a long way."

"-Really-"

"-You stopped limping, your hand is stable, and you sleep fine, because guess what, you're fine."

He was fine. Gray continued with the antibiotics because he wanted to be safe, but physically he was thankful for the fast recovery.

So… busted.

He locked gazes with Natsu's challenging one, then shrugged, "I don't feel fine, and I don't wanna be reckless knowing so."

Natsu narrowed his eyes, "Fair enough. You sit and read your book, but I wonder if you can? With that dildo shoved up your ass and all."

The serene, tension-free breakfast moment dissipated, crumbled, gone. Come on, this was Natsu and him we're talking about. They can't be peaceful, even if Gray wanted. They started off as enemies and that part never vanished from their relationship.

"I wonder what you're gonna practice with the _kind_ Loke. Interesting." He regretted nothing saying those words.

Natsu stabbed the tomatoes and his glare charred Gray who smiled innocently.

"You never know, right? Anything could happen." Natsu provoked back.

"Cool. This time, make sure you stroke a non-felonious dick. It should be dirty, but righteous." Gray wasn't one to give up easily.

Natsu's fork clacked on the plate as he stood, slamming his hands on the table, getting into Gray's personal space, "Not like it's any of your goddamn _business_."

Gray maintained the eye-contact, his muscles tightening as black flames danced in his belly, "It **is** my business. **All. Of. You**."

"My heart matters are never your business-"

"Yes, it **is**. Trust me. Remember when you got fooled by an amazing narcotics entrepreneur, and I was the one who had to bail you out? My best dude's dick business **is** definitely mine."

Red seeped from Natsu's face, as he shot Gray a disbelieving look, "There's something wrong with you! When did I ever say I'm interested in this guy?! Not that I shouldn't, but I'm fucking not! You're invited, but you don't wanna come because you're assuming bullshit! How is this correct?"

Gray sighed, "Geez. A guy can't joke around you nowadays. Chill, idiot."

Natsu snatched his plate and marched away. "I'm full."

 _That's what she said **ha. ha.**_

Gray's conscience yelled at him to go apologize, but Gray didn't do apologies when they aren't necessary. Natsu took his _fun_ jokes way too seriously.

...

Right?

* * *

To Be Continued...

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** TBD. My (expectation) is 15 days, subject to change.

 **Special thanks to:** mdelpin, KoriNoKoibito, Jo. Guys, you all guessed correct. It was Loke! thanks for your lovely comments and support.

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	12. Chapter 12

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** T **w** e **l** v **e O.** o **.O**

* * *

Too late to apologize or object.

Heh, so _what?_

As per their promised little date, Loke picked up Natsu in his Jeep with four other military hunks. They cheered, yelled, and whistled as Natsu joined—and that raised Gray's qualms. Were they going for the normal triathlon, or was it the _orgy_ -triathlon?

Motherfucking Gray had to act all high and mighty and refuse participating. He could've stuck by Natsu's side and act as a bug repellant, but _no_ , he had to be gigantically stupid.

 _'Fuck.'_

Indeed.

Forget the 'they will rape my love' problem. Will Natsu be fine on his own with those morons? Technically speaking, Natsu was a moron too, so they would gel fine. Yup, nothing to worry about. EXCEPT THAT THEY MIGHT ATTACK HIM.

 _'God.'_

The moment Loke arrived and Natsu prepared to leave, Gray wished to pull his friend to his chest and ask him to stay, kiss his lips and tell him how much he cared for him. How much he liked him and wanted all of him. He would've done it, if Loke wasn't better than him, which he was. Who knows? Maybe fate led Natsu to the Blue Pegasus military base just so he finds the colorful unicorn-ass ending with Sergeant Loke.

Gray clutched his book, threw it against the wall. His heart pulsed with a record-breaking speed that Gray halted and held his waist. He forced himself to inhale and exhale to calm the fuck down because his deep anger blossoming from sharp jealousy will be the end of him.

In regard to Eve's advice, Gray made sure he showed his face to Loke, and blamed his forfeit on his injuries. The clueless Sergeant bought it, and not only that, he apologized for the third time for abusing Gray's leg the day of their arrival to the base. Natsu clenched his fists and Gray was aware of the boy's homicidal intentions towards him since he faked the pain, nausea, and weakness.

The grudge Gray harbored for Loke lessened in intensity because UNFORTUNATELY, Loke's a good guy, and he is _good_ for Natsu. He accepted it and stomped on his feelings for the umpteenth time (Not that he EVER let himself act on them) and sucked it up. He can't win against a Sergeant. Those people know what they want, and they get it in the end.

 _'Not that I tried... should I even try? I'm really considering. And that's crazy, go back.'_

Twenty minutes after they had left, Gray walked to his Jeep. The sun was gentle and driving in the cool weather was therapeutic to damaged heart. He would kill all those governmental bastards to get his smart phone back; it had an exceptional music playlist that can't be compensated by the Jeep's radio.

As melodies filled the Jeep, Gray rested his arm on the opened window. He let the cool breeze hit him hard and fill his welcoming lungs. A beautiful flowing canal came into view, its blue water was sparkling jewels underneath the sun, surrounded by violet irises and yellow marigolds.

 _HONK! HONK! HONK!_

 _SCREEEEECH!_

 _HALT!_

If Gray was seconds late, he would've collided with the pickup truck that came out of NOWHERE.

"Fuck! Shit…"

His heart exploded, and he gulped down several breaths. The pickup truck's mountain of sealed boxes wobbled and a few of them fell.

Gray exited his Jeep as well as the driver of the pickup truck.

"How did you get your license?! Crazy guy! Looking at the birds? You insane?!" A yell deafened him.

The blood in Gray's veins ran cold when the military lady driver took her sunglasses off. She was in her army cargo pants, and a sleeveless white top, and fuck, she was so familiar he lost speech.

"Ah…"

She hurried towards the fallen boxes, and…

Ok. Long Scarlet hair?

Burning amber eyes?

Heavy boobs?

After Gray had ran to help, he froze and dropped the box he planned to save. Her glare said she'd murder him if she had the chance because not only her boxes fell because of him, but also, he was vandalizing her delivery deliberately.

Her eyes were red, brimming with tears, which meant she cried long before this incident.

Instead of beating him up, she narrowed her eyes, then she gasped, "Have we… met before?" Her curious gaze sizzled him, "My goodness…"

Dark fire burned in him as his hostile tone shot through her, "Take the plate number, go fucking complain, I wouldn't care."

As he decided to leave, the tears fell off her left eye and part of Gray regretted his comment.

Oh fuck no.

* * *

Woman's tears are men's horror, Men's tears are women's honor.

Gray has heard that somewhere, but he couldn't remember. The first part of the quote was so true though. Whenever he sees a female cry, his chest twists around, even if he wasn't the reason behind their breakdown. Also… so dumb… and useless.

Fuck, _no._ If he hears one more sob, he'll kneel and apologize for NO damn reason.

That woman's accommodation was small in the military barracks. A room, a bathroom, and a foyer. At least she had the canal's view. He sat by a small window in front of a sniffling woman and two strawberry cake plates.

The million-dollar question was… where the hell did she get that motherfucking tasty strawberry cake from?

Erza Scarlet creased a napkin as she stared down, her left eye tearing up as if she had no control over it. Her posture, the air of authority, strength, it differed like night and day when he first met her at the airport. Her dull eyes, disheveled clothes, stooping… and her broken voice…

She caused them a life crisis, so she **deserved** it.

Jellal's words hit him, and for a second, he allowed himself to doubt her conviction as an accomplice in Natsu's case.

Gray sipped from the red tea cup and nodded. It was good tea, and the mint added a special flavor he took a liking to.

"So what's going on with you? Those hundreds of boxes… are they your punishment or something? These are at least fifty. The fuck? Twisted organization you belong to-assholes they-"

"Oh… No… no, no, these are—well, my luggage."

Gray almost lost his grip around the teacup and got himself a nice large burn on his hip.

LUGGAGE?!

When Gray and Natsu moved in the base, they had two pathetic suitcases, two handbags, two freaking backpacks, one laptop bag, and most of them were emptied after Gajeel has confiscated their weapons.

Think they were under packed?!

There ARE limits to what a single person should own. Erza Scarlet has crossed ten more red limits behind the initial limit. She surpassed humanity and she should be listed in the Guinness encyclopedia.

What does she have in those boxes?! And they were huge.

"Ok." Gray nodded his head like a fool, "Cool."

"I'm transferring jobs, might as well get comfortable." She chuckled, bitterness lacing her tone, "Can't believe I'll work under Gajeel who has a narrow mind and perception."

She wiped her unstoppable tears and stared at her plate. "I'm… I apologize, I don't know why I'm telling **you** this… after causing you misfortune… this is foolishness."

Gray, don't be fooled. She deserved some of it for putting on a bitch face before.

He can't hug her and be nice, and he couldn't stop his comforting words, dumb fucker, "I know what you're going through. I used to work in a monster-big firm, and with all the drama, I think I've lost my job. Although I loved my work at the firm, it's not worth shedding tears. It is what it is. I can't and wouldn't be able to change anything. Oh, it's killing me, absolutely. But things happen for a reason. You… have to have faith that it's happened for the best."

She sobbed, "How can this be for the best? How… You don't understand. You have no idea how hard I worked to join aviation security and manage it. I fulfilled my **dream** , and now this—and, and for what?! I'm not… damn... I learned to trust no one, yet, what did I do?!"

He sympathized and stood to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "It's alright. I understand, and… you will too. Trust me. Everything will come to pass. Working under the narrow-minded prick will pass too, though... I don't think he's too bad."

His inner organs were jelly-squishy, and he hated it. This woman was the reason he and his friend ended up in an unfortunate state. On the other positive side of things, he wouldn't have met Natsu if it wasn't for her. If she didn't implant his number as the first emergency contact, Natsu would've met his father, and Gray would've been stuck forever in misery.

He met Natsu, he clarified their problem, and they made up. And that was better than working like a robot trying to forget about someone his soul cared for like it did for no one.

"I'm sorry." Erza sniffed, and he returned to his seat.

"We should get you all unpacked. I'll help."

She shook her head, "You lost your job and your friend almost died... you'll help me unpack? Stop joking around."

"Someone said it's not you. I kinda believe in their words." Gray assured, "And I don't force myself to act nice to people who've hurt me. Take my word for it."

* * *

'Unpacking', was it? Two things defined this woman. A psychopath or drugs addict. There wasn't a third.

If Natsu ever caught wind of Gray carrying twenty plus heavy boxes from a pickup truck and climbing up two flights-the same Gray who ditched the triathlon because he was _not fine and weak,_ he would rip his balls off.

But that wasn't the problem.

The problem lied in the _elephant trunk_ , the _two swords_ from the _chiwogon_ _fuck-face empire_ , the _twelve-century old knight's armor_ , and the cremated corpse for **good luck**. This stuff was for witches, not for a young stunningly beautiful lady who used to work as the aviation security MANAGER.

She should be arrested, not demoted. Was this woman supposed to transfer to the Blue Pegasus military base or the Blue Pegasus Asylum?!

If a mermaid popped out and asked Erza Scarlet for a human form, she would have what it takes to grant her wish. In one of those fucking boxes, something will do the job.

Among all the bullshit, Erza Scarlet's most valuable possessions were her trophies from high school till present, god, she got like loads of'em. Everything else was witchcraft material and garbage.

Ah… to be fair she got incredible sets of underwear with all his favorite colors (Purple, yellow, red).

And bras.

He wasn't enjoying this afternoon. NO.

They discussed the method behind organizing the unique items. Turns out, Erza Scarlet's categorizing system was as screwed up as her mentality.

He was aghast when she threw the underwear box at him, telling him to take care of 'the underwear sets' because she had other important things to look after. Like girl! What could be more important than your own underwear? The heat scorched his ears.

If Natsu knew about this… Probably he will understand, right?

Natsu… he's probably goofing around with his kind officer-kun.

Enjoy the moment visualizing the girl in those.

"Where can I get water?"

Erza Scarlet wiped her forehead, and pointed towards the back, "On the counter."

Gray poured himself a glass and gulped it at once. And there it was… a glimmer in the corner where the sandy boxes stacked on top of one another. A heavy metal device rested on the floor and triggered Gray's obsession towards electronic devices with complicate designs. He stood and rubbed his chin, contemplating about the function the device offered.

"Can I ask?"

She let go of her swords collection with a frown and nodded.

"What's this?"

Her bust puffed out in pride, and her hands held her waist, and her nose rose, "Well-done noticing this piece of pure innovation."

If she had a tail, it'd wiggle.

"It was doing a poor job staying hidden…"

She clenched her fist and put it on her chest as her eyes twinkled, "In Japan, there's only five prototypes. Once, we were visited by a prominent weapon producing company, and they introduced this to us."

"Hmm." And one of the five was with ERZA? The Japanese government is crazy.

"This is a pressure magnificator. How can I explain this to you?" She said, "Ah yes! You know how they test doors durability?"

Gray nodded, "They slam them hundreds of times with different force levels and see how many slams bring the door down. When it comes to fire rating, they have special labs for that where they mimic fires and so on to see how many hours it would last according to the production specification so that the product is certified."

She nodded, "The weapon manufacturing company got the idea from the doors and walls tests. Through this device, you can produce the pressure of barrel thrown at a wall, a chair, a light bottle-"

"-What-"

"-A bomb, a heavy vehicle crashing, a cannon, a long-range rocket, etc. It's all tweaking with the buttons. All you have to do is to set the pressure you require, then throw the device at the object you want to obliterate and it will apply it."

Did he look dumb with his gaped mouth? "So… say I have a car moving and I wanna get it outta my way, I set the device to a bomb explosion, then I do what?"

"You throw it at the car."

"Is that even possible?!"

"With this yes." Erza Scarlet grinned, "It's fascinating, right? Also, use it wisely because it's like a grenade, you throw it, and it's destroyed along with its aim, so usually they won't use it on cars, but bigger threats… unless you set it to something other than an exploding bomb. It has so many settings I'm not aware of."

Sweet heavens, "That's… not fascinating, that's a leap in technology. This is wonderful… and look at the design of this shit… Why are there only five? Why not hundreds?"

Erza rubbed the back of her neck and shrugged, "I'm not sure. They say it has many flaws and problems that they need to find solutions for."

"I can't believe this thing exists… Can I-" Gray cleared his throat, "-Sorry, got carried away."

Erza raised an eye-brow, "Tell me what you have in mind."

"I don't know I…" The desire for knowledge became too vast that he risked and ask, "Can I study it? I'm curious to know how they assembled a piece like this…"

"You like it?" She giggled, "You got it."

"Serious?" _Shit, shit, shit!_ He touched the device with an absent mind, "You can't go back on this offer… I'm gonna take this thing and study it you know? Meaning, It'll be disassembled and rebuilt."

"I'm serious. However, we need to agree on a couple of things first."

Fuck, she gives up on the one thing which isn't witchcraft and a true piece of innovation. Because of her insanity, he gets to study something unique during the long stay. Besides, it'll be a throwback to college days and his previous work where he designed electronic devices for projects.

Oh, he needs music, energy drinks, chips, and his safety glasses. And a desk… and a laptop, and a software to input data. Shit, this is gonna be delicious.

After they agreed on some points, Erza made him sign a spontaneous contract with terms and conditions, such as handing it over after fifteen days since this was a governmental secret, among other things.

"Thanks… this is truly appreciated."

"My pleasure." She smiled.

Anyone sees a problem with this?! This woman was a psychopath handing over governmental secrets to random civilians.

When he comforted her earlier, he didn't think his reward will be this… What if he did more than comforting her? Gray mind smirked devilishly

In the middle of categorizing Erza Scarlet's shoes as per their color spectrum (No one needs so many shoes, NO ONE), while the girl was assembling her honors and rewards, the darkness loomed over the Blue Pegasus military base. How many hours has he been doing this shit?

"Break time." The girl was the first to crack, "I'm starving."

"To be honest, me too." Gray sat on the floor, extending his legs, "My juice ran out."

"Let's get you back to life." She laughed, "My treat."

She was so beautiful when she laughed. Who was he kidding? She's beautiful, and that's that. In any form or shape or mood.

Gray followed her pickup truck to a building close from the Pegasus Grand Institute red-brick building. They parked, and she guided him inside. The building was military barracks; first two floors were services, and one grill restaurant existed on the ground floor.

The juiciness of the steak cheered him. They discussed a variety of topics, and the girl looked best when she smiled and gushed about dumb obsessions or dreams or missions. Her manly pride was another charming trait.

They had dessert and lost the track of time. Differences aside, they gelled perfect, and he thought of asking her out again soon. Making new friendships is nice, and Gray didn't expect this young-lady of all people to become one so fast.

She was such an eye-candy too.

They parted ways from the restaurant after she had told him she would take care of the rest of her belongings. The remaining boxes contained confidential documents, and Gray didn't complain since his shoulder muscles quivered from today's workout.

His Jeep towed the pressure magnificator and his lips grinned all the way back to Unit 8.

YES, he's got so many things to be done with Vance (The pressure magnificator).

The lights were on in Unit 8, signaling his friend's presence. He parked, hopped off the Jeep and pushed Vance's platform into the foyer, and the living room.

 _'Oh Vance, baby, you're so big.'_

Gray worried. One of Erza's terms and conditions was to keep Vance's information confidential. Although he despised lying to Natsu, he needed to.

 _'Natsu will understand…'_

Gray removed his shoes and didn't worry about lying right away since Natsu wasn't in the living room. A hint of Natsu's flowing voice informed Gray that the boy was upstairs—and something in Gray broke.

 _'Don't tell me he's got the guy home.'_

Especially, not in their bedroom. Where they slept together. His feet mounted themselves to the sandy tiles of their living room. The resistance towards progressing into the house dominated him He wasn't ready for something like this… not ever. Natsu had a boyfriend before, and he almost got married, but Gray didn't witness it.

Witnessing it was another thing. Witnessing it would crush him beyond repair.

His thumb brushed over his pocket repeatedly, the spot he stood at was like rocky wavy tides upsetting his stomach.

 _'You can't run away from it… you have to face it, you're not part of his future.'_

Gosh, why was it so difficult? He won't accept Natsu being with someone, yet he couldn't do shit, so how does he solve this problem?

There's only one way. He had to walk up those stairs, kick the motherfucker out, tell Natsu to be in bed with him instead, and to hell with the consequences.

So he did that. He climbed the stairs and marched to their room with adrenaline pumping in his veins.

"I can't… I looked everywhere! He wasn't at the mess hall, and I asked dozens of people if they've seen him but come on! Why will they know?!"

What?

"Please do something! I'm going crazy! If anything happens to him again, I'll die!"

Gray was out of the foreplay dirty talk for a long time since the last meaningless one-night stand he had ages ago, so… maybe he needed an update because that didn't sound sexy.

The idea of Natsu having someone home got overruled.

He leaned on the door frame in their room where Natsu paced back and forth as he held his phone. Natsu's hand grabbed his own pink hair as he spoke.

"No, I can't ask that jackass for help! He hit the pole today in front of his division while giving the speech! Please, anyone else, not him!"

Gray's world revolved once again, his blood pumped with a stable rate, and he sighed. So he didn't have a guy home, that's shit—that's wonderful.

"Ok. Uh-huh. But… yeah… yeah. Please, no. Isn't there anything I can do?"

Who was he speaking to?

"It's all my fault... I went to that stupid country and…"

The minute Natsu faced the door where Gray stood, his body shook as if he'd been spooked by a giant bear. A sharp gasp escaped him, and his mouth was left open. Gray worried because Natsu was all flushed red as if he was getting a fever. He worried even more when Natsu's hand turned to a fist he bit then kneeled.

What the fuck?

Gray mouthed, _"Everything alright? What's wrong? Who's this?"_

"H-hold on a second. Hold on, wait, I found him…" Natsu jumped to stand on his feet and rubbed the back of his head, "I'm so sorry for all the trouble! Shit, I don't know what to say. Yeah, please tell them it's fine. Yeah, sorry, but I need to go."

Natsu threw the phone and kneeled again, rubbing his face. "Shit…"

"What's happening dude?"

Natsu closed his eyes and breathed hard, "Your phone… where is your phone?"

Gray's fished for the phone in his pocket.

"Fuck." He saw 33 missed calls and 20 texts, and… the silent mode.

Shit… why so many? Why on the fucking silent mode?!

"I s-searched… everywhere… I went to all the security checkpoints with Loke, I scanned the whole Institute, I fucking searched under the leaves, and I swear to god, if you don't give me a **damn good** explanation RIGHT NOW for not answering your phone, you're doomed."

Natsu took in a long-heated breath, and approached Gray like a predator, and no, not in the sexual nice way. And Gray kept retreating.

"So?"

Shit, why was his phone on silent mode? "wo-wo-wo-Wait—wait! These phones are new, and I'm not used to it, and-"

"Okay…" Natsu's veins pulsed in his arms, " **So** you have no **shit** to say! Oh my god, you're so dead!"

His instincts pushed him to run down the stairs with a hammering heart because he knew of Natsu's capabilities at this raging state.

"GRAY FULLBUSTER, YOU'RE FUCKED!"

Gray leaped over the sofa and ran upstairs where Natsu followed him like a Hellhound. They jumped over the bed, down, then up.

Upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs, upstairs, downstairs.

They panted standing on either side of the coffee table. If Natsu was correct, he has been through a badass triathlon the whole day with other militants, and Gray has been lifting boxes, and both had no energy left. They were using spare drops that would dry so soon.

Despite of that, Natsu grabbed the nearest object to throw in Gray's direction. A pillow, then a vase that shattered (totally insensitive to Hibiki's ownership of this unit), and when Gray dodged, more sofa pillows, then…

"NO!"

Natsu pulled Vance's trolley and marched to the front, his muscles aching because of the heavyweight.

" **NATSU!** LEAVE IT RIGHT NOW OR I'LL FUCKING STRANGLE YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS AND ENJOY IT! DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THIS IS?! LET IT GO, **NOW!** "

Gray used the LOOK. The one with knitted eyebrows, clenched jaw, and red-eye gleam with a demonic posture. Believe it or not, it causes fright and intimidation overload. Anyone could've been intimidated, anyone. Not the sucker Natsu Dragneel.

"Oh! Oh! Oh goodness! No!" Natsu spoke with a princess-y tone, "I'm so scared!"

Gray gulped as Natsu attempted to hold Vance.

"Strangle me, you say? You can try ASSHOLE! After I destroy your balls and beat the living shit out of you!"

"BE CAREFUL! Just what is your problem?! I told you it's a fucking new phone, and no one would call anyway, so I didn't care!" Gray panted, "Do you even know how crazy this is? I don't-"

"You fucking vanished. I called around-I dunno, million times?" He panted, "I texted you-" Harsher pants, "-I dunno, a zillion? Nothing! It's so freaking late, and you can imagine the scenarios I have in my head! Don't fuck with me! I called Hibiki freaking Lates when I searched and couldn't find you! You still think I'm crazy?!"

OK YES. Natsu had the right to lose it, but he wasn't wrong! He lost the track of time, and the bullshit PHONE he got from the military administration sucked, so he didn't think of using it even for communication!

"Gray, there's only one way this is gonna end."

"Wait—"

Natsu let go of Vance's trolley and it happened so fast Gray couldn't react. Natsu has jumped over the table with his bare foot and pinned Gray to the floor who shut his eyes and hoped he would get out of this alive.

Nothing came. Not his death, not Natsu's blow. He heard the harsh pants and smelled the raw fiery rage, but nothing came.

"Fucker!" Natsu shouted, got off of him and threw a pillow on his face as he walked off.

Shit… that was so close. Gray spread all his limbs on the floor and let out the breath he held. Natsu didn't beat the crap out of him and he managed to breathe, he was lucky. But why?

He collected himself from the floor and sat on the sofa, rubbing away imaginary dust.

Man that was close. Shit, worried Natsu was no joke. He was that much worried though… shit. And just how insane was it gonna be if Gray barged in, assuming Natsu got a guy home and suddenly asked Natsu to sleep with him?

Gray, you need to calm your shit down, and stop assuming crazy shit all the time.

He rubbed the face of his hand and climbed the stairs for the twentieth time, and Natsu wasn't found in the room they shared. He wasn't in the bathroom either. Gray tried his luck with the room next to his and found the boy sitting on the edge of the bed, panting.

"Nat..." Gray had to demolish his pride and self-preservation this time. Also, he didn't dare to step into the room, and gave Natsu plenty of space.

"Get out. Now. Get out now."

He had done the math and the probability of a positive outcome of a conversation was fairly low, so he retreated.

He had mixed feelings about the incident. Part bounced up and down like a toddler cause Natsu worried for him so much, part was relieved Natsu didn't bring a guy home, part was disappointed he didn't launch his big _you need to be with me_ stunt, and part thought of how to make up with the pink haired boy.

Will he be able to do that though…?

And part groaned that Natsu deserted their bed.

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** TBD.

 **Special thanks to:** mdelpin, deboome, Rennn. Guys, thanks for your lovely comments and support.

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	13. Chapter 13

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** T **h** i **r** t **e** e **n** **O.** o **.O**

* * *

Natsu throws around demonic glares and gestures like it's his second nature, most of the time, but, but, but, rarely, well, he's Angelic. It's hard to explain, but when inner angel Natsu pops up, Gray's brain visualizes the thick shiny wings and the picture is complete.

Natsu rested on the living room's sectional sofa with a newspaper in hand. Surely, Natsu doesn't possess that polished 60-year-old mentality to READ an ACTUAL newspaper. If he was Gray's high school crush Natsu Dragneel, then he's checking out the fun comics.

Natsu wore a white hoodie shirt and faded blue jeans. One hand shifted between the sandwich next to him and the newspaper. WOW, those comics were good.

The innocent angel, god blesses.

Gray transferred his weight on the other foot (above the stairs) after he had had a long stalling shower. When should he approach Natsu? He can't have his breakfast in peace with the way things were.

Should he go out there and have yet another fight in the morning?

Absolutely. Fights added a spice to their fucked-up relationship. He descended from the stairs and earned a flinch from the boy immersed in the newspaper with a defenseless back.

He ignored Gray's unwelcomed presence and took a huge bite from his sandwich.

"Hey."

Before any force that exists in this universe or not judges that, Gray knew that his ice-breaking word had faults.

He deserved to be ignored.

Okay, try again?

"Good… morning?"

Ignored. Natsu chewed and read with undivided attention.

"Listen man, about yesterday… um. Don't make a big deal out of it because it's super unintentional. I drove around a bit after you left with the boyfriend version two, and I guess so much happened that I lost the track of time." Gray paused, "And I always switch my phones to silent because of work and meetings and shit, so it's vibrating by default … and to be honest, I don't give a shit about this phone, it's useless to me."

Natsu trained his alligator green eyes to filter Gray out as he took another bite and read avidly through his piece of shit newspaper.

"What are you reading?"

"An interesting article." Natsu said with a mouth full of food, "You should read it too."

Wow, he didn't expect an answer. Progress, cool. But wait.

The next housing unit must have heard Gray's gasp.

"You said the word ARTICLE? You know what that actually means, right? Like it can be a giant 300 words long with scientific jargon too-"

Ok Gray, you don't want him upset. You don't.

"Cool, anyway. What's your little _article_ about?"

"Says here…" Natsu narrowed his eyes and his face got closer to the paper, "Four tips on how to be an asshole."

Gray sighed, the back of his foot rubbing against the soft tufted carpet.

"Number one, minimize, deny, and blame. Two, apologizing is for sissies. Three, personal responsibility, what the fuck is that? Four, you're always right, be secure in this. Rings a bell?" Natsu accomplished the first eye-contact since the morning in the shape of a glare.

Gray shrugged, putting on a careless facade, "What're you eating?"

Natsu flipped the page and continued reading.

"A cheese sandwich."

"Is it any good?"

"It's decent."

"Perfect." Gray stole the sandwich from Natsu's unsuspecting hands, took a bite smirking, and headed to the kitchen for water.

"Number **five** , eat other's food like it's rightfully yours. See? Better learn from me than from a useless _article_ written by a shy introvert behind glasses in a random office."

The shopping bags in the kitchen with the pre-made sandwiches indicated that Natsu went out in the morning, again. The boy's stomping became clearer until he stood behind Gray who took another bite from the sandwich with a smirk just to piss him off.

Natsu maintained the eye contact as he snatched a sandwich and tossed the full bag at Gray. For Natsu's disappointment, Gray's reflexes worked well, and he grabbed the bag.

"Thank you for sharing darlin'. Love you too."

Natsu retreated to where he was seated and gave him the middle finger. Ohhhh, he's not leaving it alone. He flopped himself on the sofa next to Natsu and unwrapped the cheese sandwich, "So man, this daily shopping with your boyfriend… Is it gonna be a trend now or what?"

He didn't expect Natsu to handle his comment like an adult and ignore it.

"You didn't tell me how it went yesterday. Did you get laid?"

Natsu's hands pressed harder on the newspaper, but no other major reaction that inclines towards physical assault. The pink haired boy made it a point that Gray wasn't getting the counteraction he hoped for. That he was too upset for his shit.

"Probably not, seeing you have such agitation."

Natsu's hand tightened around the newspaper till it became white.

He was being an asshole because he wanted Natsu to be an asshole back and then find their way towards making up, but that strategy failed. It hurt like a bitch that he had to opt for strategy number two which wasn't always a favorite.

Strategy number two forced him to relinquish his pride, and self-preservation (He's doing a lot of this shit lately. Why the fuck?)

Strategy number two guaranteed solving the unsolvable though.

He dropped his provocative tone, putting down his sandwich, then gently removed the newspaper from Natsu's warm fingers that he accidently touched.

"Hey, look here. Come on."

Natsu didn't glare, curse, or get violent. He never turned to face Gray. His gaze was on glass sliding door in the front.

"Fine, don't look." Gray sighed, "Dude, sorry I got you worried. There goes my ego and you're not even looking to watch how it's crumbling. I win-"

"-Is this fun to you?" Natsu's eyes met his quickly, but they were hurt and he was shaking.

"What?"

The boy stood, "Minimizing Gray. Minimizing. You minimize every damn issue that's on the planet and make it sound like a damn funny joke-"

"-Well, maybe it's because you maximize everything."

"Forget it. Just pretend I'm not here. Do whatever the hell you want."

He apologized, what more does Natsu want? Fucking dumbass.

"Damn right I will, especially when you're acting like a bitch that doesn't know what she wants."

"Great."

* * *

Boy, Natsu smelled so good. He definitely took a shower, and he so wanted to kiss his neck. That would've been an awesome start to the morning.

Shame.

Did Gray feel an atom of guilt? NO. He apologized, case closed.

Daydreaming aside, it was time to activate the nerd in him. He prepared coffee, and a stack of the sandwiches Natsu bought on a plate. Having those ready-made sandwiches saved time to study the machine he brought yesterday. Oooh he will open it up, fawn over its intricate circuits, and be the happiest man alive.

While devouring his food, Gray pushed Vance's trolley all the way to the study room Eve showed him, and decided it'll be a suitable place to dissect Vance.

Notebooks and tools… He ran upstairs to get his handbag and suitcase and moved those to the study room. He sat up the laptop Hibiki Lates gave them and inserted the flash drive that contained Vance's data. The overall freaking manual was over three hundred pages and going through it was critical to discover what he was dealing with.

 _'Dissecting is gonna have to wait... but not for long.'_

BECAUSE he'll go through the manual and finish it and get his hands on that baby. He only had fifteen days with the machine, so he had to put them to good use.

Enthusiasm gnawed him at first. As he delved deeper into the details, functions, settings, and Vance's different software programs and 3D model viewers, Gray's head coughed and gurgled. It's been AGES since he saw a machine so complicated and mysterious. The beast manufacturer embedded intricate specifics of the lethal weapon (right next to his ass) and an alien technology to him.

Gray adjusted his glasses and scrolled through the endless black hole of information he sucked himself into.

The sitting position for over two hours, killed Gray's back. Stretching for a minute helped, and he moved the laptop to the living room because the sofa was nicer, and allowed stretching his legs. It was convenient since he wasn't doing practical work on Vance, _yet_.

He almost bumped into Natsu mid-way to the sofa. The boy had his newspaper folded in hand and decided suddenly to go upstairs.

 _'Bastard. Is he really doing this?'_

Natsu couldn't avoid him for long. They freaking shared the same space. And why was the fucker unsatisfied after his apology?

Fuck that guy.

He calculated the time it'd take him to finish going through Vance's data and excluding four out of eight hours sleep helped boost the process to be finalized in a day.

* * *

Natsu descended from the stairs, looking for water. Just as fingers touched the wetness of the cold-water bottle, he stopped. Gray's head was tilted to his left side, his hands were motionless on the laptop, his injured leg was bent under the other.

His glasses rested on shut-eyes as his chest rose and fell with soft breaths.

The pink haired rolled his eyes, climbed the stairs, then re-appeared with a dark blue blanket. He pulled the laptop away from Gray's hands, laid him on the sofa so that his neck wouldn't screech, and unfolded the injured leg with care.

He draped the blanked over his chest till his ankle. As he knelt, a bitter sigh left him with… bitterness. He could see the blotches of blood on the waterproof bandage around Gray's shoulder, and the slight perspiration at Gray's forehead, reminding him of the shit they went through.

He leaned in and pressed his lips to Gray's jaw.

"… I should be the one… seeking forgiveness. Forgive me…"

Warmth amplified at the back of his hand where he stroked Gray's cheek.

"I…"

Natsu stopped himself from spouting words that'd hurt him.

"Rest well."

* * *

 _'Where am I?'_

His surroundings were blurry. Instinctively, his hands reached out for his glasses on the glazed coffee table next to his laptop.

 _'Vance… shit!'_

As he moved, the soft blanket draped over him exposed his upper half. Fuck, he slept like a baby and he blamed it on the pain killers and medications, NOT on Vance's data overload.

He couldn't help but pull out a wide smile at the blanket as he touched its soft texture.

The phone's crazy ringtone on the coffee table woke him up, and he glared at the caller ID as he held the phone which wasn't his.

 _Sergeant Loke._

A hasty Natsu Dragneel (Where the hell did he come from?) snatched the phone, answered, and walked to the foyer.

"Yes? Good, how are you?" He laughed.

Gray threw the blankets and stalked Natsu. Clearly, Natsu didn't want Gray to hear him talking to the Sergeant, and Gray's paranoia returned.

"Today?"

Natsu waved at Gray to fuck off, but Gray only walked closer until Natsu's spine was straight against the Unit's wooden entrance door.

Gray mouthed the words, "You're busy. You're fucking busy."

Natsu pushed at Gray's chest, but Gray's feet rooted themselves closer to Natsu whose face reddened. The pink haired used one of his tightened fists to collide with Gray's jaw, but Gray held it, so Natsu used his shoulder to support the phone and launched the other fist, but Gray disappointed that one too.

"Tell him you're fucking busy."

"I—Today is a bit-evening?" Natsu's weight pushed Gray off enough to rush to the stairs.

 _'Oh no you don't.'_

Gray dashed after Natsu who had climbed four steps and pulled him from his shirt. They nearly crashed together on the floor, but their reflexes saved them before they tumbled ungracefully.

"No. No, you can't-hey-you're busy."

Natsu's glowering eyes promised a world of hurt if Gray didn't get off Natsu's back, literally.

"Loke, I'll call you back, yeah? Sorry." Natsu hung up, then roared, " **You're gonna die**!"

Burning Lava with seething steam flowed behind Natsu's figure.

Expected. He had thought of a counter attack. The perfect one that there is.

"Shit…" Gray pretended to lose balance and fall when Natsu shrugged him off. He bent his injured leg to his chest and faked pain.

The pink haired gasped and hurried to his side, "What… shit, you ok?"

Success.

"Fine… I need to—help me up."

Natsu supported him until he reached the sectional sofa. That idiot was so simple that Gray smirked on the inside. Not only simple, he was too cute worrying about Gray sick like that.

 _'Fuck, I AM an asshole.'_

"Does it hurt a lot? Want me to grab something from upstairs?"

They both sat on the sofa, and Natsu's world shook with fear.

"Idiot, I'll be fine. It's a temporary cramp."

"A cramp?" Natsu placed a hand over his chest and sighed, "Thank god…"

Natsu's phone rung, and before Natsu gets it, Gray grabbed his arm, "…"

"…"

They stared at one another for ten seconds. In Gray's chest, something dark wandered at the thought of Natsu spending another minute with that guy.

Natsu's palm on Gray's grip was like a candle fire drop. Gentle, scorching, but tolerable. It patted a sensitive chord in him as Natsu slowly shrugged Gray's bruising grip off him. Because it was sudden, Gray cooperated, and Natsu picked up his phone from the floor.

When Gray moved to make himself a physical obstacle, Natsu shot him a glare.

"Don't." Natsu warned, "I'm gonna reply, and you won't stop me. Understood?"

"You-"

" **Understood?** "

Gray scoffed. Natsu might as well say _'Stay. Good boy.'_

The bastard walked away with his phone. Gray didn't follow because Natsu's touch on his hand lingered and provided necessary assurances of things he feared. Like losing the person he liked to someone else. It was strange, and Gray watched his fingers as they trembled with satisfaction from the gentle gesture.

"Yeah—sorry, I know. Um, today is a bit… I can't make it. Tomorrow is a different story though."

 _'So it's tomorrow?'_ Should he fake his death tomorrow?

"I'm all fired up for it. Yup, see ya."

Natsu's weight landed next to him, and the boy glared, "You're so sick, you know that?"

"Hmm? I'm not. Don't go with him, that's all."

" _That's all_?" Natsu scoffed, and slammed his fist on Gray's head, "What kind of-"

Gray teared, "—Thanks for the blanket. Didn't realize that shit was so deep."

"…" Natsu threw his phone and glowered again.

"You're not going with him because you're coming with me."

Natsu's limbs stopped moving.

Gray got on his feet and stretched as if pain never existed.

"Grab what you need. We're going now."

"Why?"

"Why?" Gray repeated.

Natsu jerked up, shoulders quivering and voice laced with a slight shake, "Why can't I go with him, but should go with you? Doesn't make sense... What… do you want from me? You can't-"

"-Hey." Gray interrupted, "Stop being such a girl. Gonna wash my face, then we'll go."

Those words were his support to run away from Natsu's questioning line and he succeeded because Natsu detested being called a girl. They weren't high schoolers, but it still worked, thank god.

Gray hated anyone calling him a coward because he wasn't, except when it came to Natsu. They had found the way towards each other after so many years. Their fragile friendship was restored recently, and Gray didn't want to take a chance at sabotaging it.

Having Natsu near him was enough.

* * *

Was it though?

* * *

Gray leaned on the Jeep and they stood viewing the Canal he saw the day before. The air expanded in volume and increased the strain between them and the difficulty of talking to Natsu who hid behind a pair of sunglasses.

"I came here yesterday. Thought you would like to see it. Looks cool, right?"

Natsu sniffled. He stared at the flowing water and shunned Gray.

"Nat, why're you still mad? I apologized, didn't I?"

Natsu removed his sunglasses and faced Gray, "I don't fucking care. Do you have a clue about the severity of the heart attack you gave me yesterday? Your freaking book was thrown on the floor, your bed had wrestling signs, your handbag contents were emptied… Do I have to be a fucking detective to imagine kidnapping and assault at the same time?! Fuck!"

"Dude-"

"That's not all! You don't answer your damn junk! I prayed to god! I don't do that! I fucking don't! BUT I DID!" Natsu yelled, his eyes shut, "I know you're an insensitive asshole all the time, but fucker! What would you have done if you were in my shoes?"

Gray chuckled and looked at his foot that nudged the grass, "Murdered you."

Natsu's arms flew, "Thank you!"

"Do you want to beat me up? Will that make you feel better?"

"I-I don't know!"

"Do it, it's ok."

"Gladly!"

Pain shot in Gray's abdomen. He held it with both arms and his jaw dropped, "Dude, are you serious?!"

"Oh don't be such a girl!" Natsu countered.

"Cool." Gray's laughter hurt with the pain in his stomach, "Feeling good now?"

Natsu turned away and unclenched his fists, shoulders slumping.

"No…"

"You're so difficult-"

Natsu spun and stomped towards him. His weak heart hammered and Gray predicted another blow.

 _'Such a goddamn beast!'_

Natsu's arms wrapped around him. Paralyzing him. Loving him. Shuddering the ribcage containing his heart, lighting it with sparks. Did Natsu know what he was doing to Gray?

No. He didn't. He buried his face in the joint between Gray's shoulder and neck.

Gray licked his lips and struggled with himself. He was trying his absolute best, the maximum absolute best AND beyond to protect this friendship since he's back with Natsu, but Natsu wasn't playing by those rules. Natsu's pushing, pushing, pushing Gray's thread of willpower, and now, that thread is torn and pulled out.

Enough. Seriously, enough. Natsu should be **his**.

"Stay with me..." Natsu's voice rattled, "Don't go… not again, I can't do that again. Please… I can't."

"…" Gray's pulse in his neck raced.

Too much care… too much love that he didn't deserve. He gravitated towards that same warmth ever since they became friends because no one gave him so much other than Natsu.

Natsu gave, gave, and gave and Gray was always on the receiving end. Why did Natsu give so much if Gray didn't? He asked himself that so many times that he realized Natsu's feelings towards him were void of deception, personal benefits, or anything ugly. It was all beautiful, sweet, genuine, and no one gave him that other than his best friend.

Why did things have to be this way?

Gray was so hypnotized he wanted to reply _'Yes, I'm staying forever'._ Before he could say those irresponsible words, he forced them away as he trusted himself less to keep any promises after his abuse to Natsu over the years.

He pulled Natsu's waist towards him and buried a hand in the pink locks, hoping it'll compensate, instead of promises he might not keep. Gray wished time would stop with him facing the sparkly canal, wrapped in the love he was unworthy of. Their relationship was preposterous chaos. They were stuck in one bitchy friend-zone when all he wanted was to own his friend.

But the marking on his heart pounded with vigor whenever Natsu neared it and repelled Gray's wishes. It reminded him of the consequences of losing Natsu for the sweet demons that were desire and love.

Maybe his paranoia was groundless; however, he would not take any chances. That moment was perfect, they were in a good place, and he wouldn't dare to ruin it.

For now…

God, Natsu's body fitted so damn well in his embrace, like he was created for him all along.

"Why're you such a drama queen?"

Natsu tightened his hold around his neck as Gray chuckled.

"I appreciate _your love_ for me, but my shoulder hurts so let go."

"Sorry…"

 _'That blush is illegal.'_

"I'm hungry, buy me food."

As a general rule of thumb: You wanna make up with Natsu? Buy him food.

Like 99% of their problems are sorted out that way.

Gray grumbled, "Don't have money on me."

"Let's go get it then eat… I'm starving."

Gray shut the Jeep's door and fastened the seatbelt, then glared at Natsu to do the same.

"I know an excellent barbeque place. _Imagine_ , here of all places."

Natsu's eyes formed star shapes, "For real?"

"Yeah baby. You're gonna kiss me for this. The meat in there is something else."

"SERIOUS?!"

It doesn't take much to make Natsu happy, that was one of the convenient things about being friends with that guy.

"When did you know about it though?" Natsu blinked.

"Hehehehehe." Gray cackled, "Yesterday, this hot chick treated me there for helping. You know my charm~"

Gray expected his friend to retort or come up with a ridiculous comment… but he looked ahead with a small smile before he turns away to look at the street from his window.

"That's great."

He didn't know what to make of that fake smile, and for sure, something went wrong.

* * *

Gray drove far from the canal with a new courageous determination.

He's making Natsu his. Nothing would change that.

* * *

The aroma of grilled meat hit them before they make it inside. Natsu skipped as they walked, and Gray's stomach was ready to receive what the place has to offer. Meat lovers in the military base targeted that restaurant for a good reason.

The meat was a-melt-in-the-mouth.

They had to add volume to their voices to hear each other over the music beats and occupied tables' chatter.

"This is…" Natsu paused, "… Industrial and funk. I like."

The ceiling showed the black painted ducts and pipes. Chocolate beech wood made up the flooring; exposed brick walls reflected a mix of sea blue, pink, yellow and red LED graffiti-shaped lights with English text. Small, but many lighting bulbs lit the tables that had five giant sauce bottles besides salt and pepper.

Seating arrangements varied between bar stools, booths, and standard dining tables. They had taken a booth and Natsu examined the place as the aroma of grilled deliciousness surrounded them. Over thirty waiters served in the two-story restaurant; they were frantic as they did their best coping with the needs of the needy officers and militants.

The sizzling dishes that came out of the busy kitchen encouraged their stomachs to starve as they debated about their order.

"Trust me. Their food is better than their interior design."

"Are those… charcoal bags? Where the guy with the weird hair is?" Natsu giggled.

Gray was glad the boy was back to his normal cheery self, "Look who's talking!"

"Shut up."

"Yup, charcoal bags, bottle drinks in boxes… they don't keep them in the fridge, they give them with tons of Ice."

"This place is amazing…"

"I know." Gray adjusted his glasses and scanned the menu.

"Gentlemen, good evening." A young-lady with long green hair and black bow tie approached them.

"Hey." Gray said.

She provided them water and two glasses, "I'm Hisui, and I'll take care of all your needs this evening." There was kindness and comfort behind her bright fern eyes that made her more of a princess than a normal waiter.

When she walked away, Gray flipped through the menu and mumbled, "That's what she said."

Natsu threatened hurling the menu at his head, "Give it a rest, will you?"

"You saw that way she said it!" He defended himself.

"Fucker."

"What Natsu? Don't you want her to take care of your evening needs?"

Natsu shook his head, "Fucker, that's what you ARE. I decided!"

"Hmmm?"

"I want to try the rib-eye steak."

"Good choice, you won't regret it."

They gave the belle with the green hair their order and waited for their food.

"So… what were you so caught up with yesterday?" Natsu rested his cheek on his palm.

"You know the girl from the airport? The one that Jellal said was innocent?"

Natsu stared at the bulb that lit up their table, then nodded, "I remember. Don't tell me you've met with _her_?"

"Crazy, right?" Gray snickered, "It's like fate or something. My Jeep almost bumped into her pickup truck."

Natsu smirked, "Hooo, I sense a fated romance story."

Who knows, right? "She was crying in the middle of the fucking road, and I sorta damaged her luggage, so-"

"-Shit. The horrors of a crying girl."

" _Exactly_. I helped around with her massive luggage, and it took us hours. Later she treated me here to dinner, although I didn't do it for the treat. I felt sorry for her since we both shared the same tragic work experience."

"You little bastard, you got yourself a little date while I drowned with worry?!" Natsu's tone was void of malice, and full of teasing.

Gray's shoulders quivered with laughter, "When you put it that way, yeah I guess. Didn't wanna tell you that yesterday though."

"Good call." Natsu grinned, "She hot?"

"SMOKIN'."

"You little bastard."

"Like I've already forgotten her terrible deeds when her melons jiggled around."

They both laughed and Natsu wiped a tear.

"What about you? Had good time yesterday with Sergeant Hotness?"

"You should have come yesterday. The day was _epic_ until you screwed it up."

"Fucker. Tell me."

Why on earth was he joyful about a day with Sergeant shit-head? Gray wasn't curious, but 'Loke' was an annoying topic and he needed to know how far their relationship has gone and if he had to tweak Vance with the bazooka pressure setting.

Natsu gushed with a joyous twinkle about the shooting training, and the triathlon.

"They asked me to join their division, but I said no ways."

"Was dickhead there?" Gray asked.

"Mmmm, there were so many dicks there. You need to tell me which one?"

"Fuck, you took part in an orgy?"

Natsu held the steak's knife up, "I'll slice you up."

Gray held his stomach in pain from laughter, "You should listen to yourself saying stuff."

"Fuck you."

"Not now, baby. Let's eat first."

Natsu shook his head, "Thanks, but no thanks. Not now, not ever."

Gray smiled, "Gajeel Redfox, was he there?"

"Dude, I fucked him in the triathlon. I fucking stepped all over his corpse, you should've seen his face, fucking jerk."

Gray smirked.

"What's up shit-face?"

The night couldn't get any better.

"You realize you're so heated about it, no?" Gray's smirk got darker.

"What? So?" Natsu shrugged. "He's a jerk."

"Maybe he's special then. Oh man, you don't wanna know what I'm thinking of."

A rough smack on the head was Gray's reward. "FUCK! You're an ass! There's definitely something wrong with you!"

"Whaaaaat? Didn't you hear of relationships starting off with hatred, then turning to heated passionate love?"

"Ewww, disgusting!" Natsu placed his hands around his neck and faked puking noises, "Not this fucker!"

"Why not this fucker? He's big, full of muscles, and I bet something else is big underneath that belt." Gray laughed his head off internally, but managed his expression to appear as a major smirk.

"Shut the fuck up. You wanna get beaten up or you want me to leave? I'm not sure."

Gray laughed, "I can't joke anymore around you man."

Natsu sighed and stared at LED lights on the brick wall. Gray's thumb rubbed his own hand underneath the table. He needed to ask and get over it no matter what the answer was.

 _'Natsu wouldn't… he wouldn't.'_

"What about Loke?"

Why not? The guy was good enough, and maybe 'Loke' was Natsu's answer.

" **What about him**?" Natsu almost growled the response.

"…" Should he say it or not? Yes, he should, "Do you like him? He seems to care about you."

"Gray." Natsu's amused inquiring green eyes cut through him, "You jealous or something?"

Ok, Gray. Game was backfiring. Retreat or retaliate, either way he figured he would be the loser.

"Couuurse I'm. You're my best dude, and it's not nice seeing someone else taking you, but if you like him and feel happy then why not? Gotta deal with it."

Natsu's brittle laugh was obvious, "I'm your dude?"

"You're my _best_ dude."

"I'm your dude…"

"My best dude!"

"Ok, enough!" Natsu was exasperated, but his cheeks propagated a deep shade of red, "He's not my type… like, he's fun to be with and you'd realize that if you weren't such a jealous dude. Come with me once to the shooting practice, I bet you'd get along well with him."

"HUH?" Gray made it as if he saw a fluffy ass unicorn flying on top of Natsu's head, "You're kidding me, right? You should've felt the throbbing when the asshole kicked my INJURED leg, I wanted to destroy him at that moment if I weren't busy preventing myself from shrieking in agony. Get along my ass."

"Wow, you have a grudge there man."

Gray grunted, "It's not a grudge. You wouldn't understand because you weren't in my place."

"But he apologized right? Came all the way, bowed, demeaned himself, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Plus, I beat the shit out of him for you."

"Yeah right." Gray rolled his eyes, "You don't know me man."

Natsu raised an eye-brow, then smirked and rested his cheek on his hand, "Oh I know you alright. Your jealousy is preventing you from opening up to him, that's all."

Gray reddened. Natsu was a fucker, and he knew how to get to him. He wasn't jealous, he was beyond while wanting Loke and Ondrej dead. He shot, "You don't know me."

"Jealous Dude."

"Shut up."

"Green dude."

"Fuck-"

"Oh Graaaaay, you changed, I can't joke around you anymore."

"I'll-"

"-Hey." Natsu cut him off and tugged at Gray's sleeve, "You're my best dude too. No one's changing that and your place is irreplaceable."

Natsu fueled Gray's light heart with many electrical shocks that day. He was glad they were within a public space, if not, Gray didn't trust himself enough to be around the boy and his little confession.

Gray's eyes urged Natsu to give him more than that. More than a 'Best dude'. He took hold of Natsu's hand on his sleeve and tightened it.

"Am I just that?"

Natsu opened his mouth, "Aa-" and red colored his cheeks as he pushed hard to retrieve his hand. He averted his gaze to their lady-waiter coming with their food, "Gentlemen! One Rib-eye steak, one sirloin steak, two beef shanks, and two lamb chops! Enjoy and call me whenever you need anything!"

* * *

"Oh my god…" Natsu's drool was visible. His eyes were a heart shape and cheeks were red. "Meat… Meat… oh Gray, the meat…"

Gray wished he was the meat.

Natsu was all cuteness at that moment. Gray offered a broad smile.

"What are you waiting for?"

The marinated product dazzled the taste buds with an exquisite experience. If they left the blue Pegasus military base, Gray was gonna cry.

As soon as Natsu had the first bite, his soul left his body, happy that it's ascending to heaven. Gray laughed at how breathless, amazed, and excited he was. The sizzling meat had so much flavor and juiciness which melted in the mouth with each bite.

Despite of him coming to the restaurant the day before, Gray maintained the level of amazement at how addictive and fulfilling the food was.

They spoiled their bellies rotten and regretted nothing.

"Why can't we live here?" They were on their way back to their accommodation when Natsu asked with star-shaped eyes, "It'd be cool."

Gray smiled at the boy's hypnotism.

"I'll puke if I see any food right now." Natsu was proud, "I so need to lie down, my stomach's about to burst."

"At least you're happy."

"No kidding." Natsu smiled.

"What did you have for dinner yesterday?"

Natsu was thoughtful for a second, "Yesterday… yesterday… Hey! Yesterday, I was back before dinner. That's when I looked for you. Frankly, I was irritated because you weren't found and I could eat an entire elephant after the triathlon."

"And?"

"Of course, I didn't have it. Anxiety took over. But in the morning, I couldn't take it so I went to the military store and got those sandwiches from there. They're not so bad."

"No, they're good. But military store? Didn't see that one… not to mention any kind of store."

Natsu grinned, "That's the perk of befriending a sergeant. You could say it's a special thing within their campus, because it's not accessed by public."

"Who makes special friendships for special stores idiot?"

"Who knows? You never know." Natsu smirked.

Gray raised an eyebrow and remained silent. That was a throwback to Natsu and Ondrej's story wherein the pink haired boy accepted the vice president's offer of 'help' fund his friend's project, then afterwards, Natsu become his as in, **his**.

Natsu showed a foreign behavior that Gray didn't see when they lived and studied three years ago. That foreign behavior was, without doubt, repulsive. Speculating about Natsu's recent change has caused his stomach to revolt and rendered him speechless for seconds.

Gray was thankful they reached their accommodation because the awkward air was expanding. The day couldn't be any more perfect, why the hell did he jibber jabber about the boy's dinner the day before? Goddammit.

He tousled his hair in frustration, then took off his shirt and went to the study room where Vance and his laptop were. At least work would distract him from the newborn negative thoughts and doubts. The sheer excitement of using his voltmeter with Vance didn't suppress the sinking feeling, but improved his mood.

"You're not sleeping?"

Gray's back was given to the boy.

"Nope. Maybe later."

"… Okay. Goodnight then."

Natsu went straight to bed in their room, much to Gray's dismay who unloved sharing a bed with him then.

Voltmeter, Voltmeter, Voltmeter, laptop, tape measure, wire strippers, Vance. Mission disassemble and rebuild start.

He hoped he made the right decision of dissecting that weapon and that it won't be blowing up in his face.

* * *

Natsu… what on earth…?

* * *

 _To be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** TBD. My (expectation) is 15 days, subject to change.

 **Special thanks to:** deboome, Kori No Koibito, Jo. Guys, thanks for your lovely comments and support.

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	14. Chapter 14

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** F **o** u **r** t **e** e **n** **O.** o **.O**

* * *

 **Fukuoka, Japan – 10:30AM – Blue Pegasus Base, Unit 8**

Ten freaking minutes _please_. His eyes begged for a ten-minute rest. Orange sparks flew from the metal welding-Why the FUCK did he have to deface the interface? GRAY! Name one good reason. None? Yeah, NO SHIT.

Bullshit amateur move. He had to pay the price: Staying up all night, plus, stressing about fixing what he's destroyed because Erza Scarlet wasn't so forgiving. She'd deface Gray if she found Vance was defaced.

"Fuck you man. Motherfucker, you're a piece of shit who thinks himself a prodigy and you go fuck up. Why? Fuck you dude." His voice was a distant echo from the soul that left his body around 5:00AM.

"Amazingly, you _have_ lost your mind." Natsu's bitching was the last he wished to hear (his alarm-clock comes BEFORE Natsu at this point), especially, not so early, "The bloody hell are you doing man?"

"Um, Porn." Gray crossed his legs under the study desk, his internal voice chanting a melody to remain calm as he welded the metal with caution.

"Seriously, haven't you had sleep at all?!"

"Baby it's porn. You open one video, then you find yourself sucked in deep. Don't you see me jerking off and how my cock's enjoying it?"

"Excuse me-"

"Ohh~~ what's love got ta do, got ta do with it~~ What's love but a second hand emotion~~ What's love got ta do, got ta do with it~~ Who needs a heart~~ When a heart can be broken~~ Ah oh~~ Ah oh~~ What's love, what's love~ Baby don't hurt me~~"

Those 20 hours he hadn't had a wink of sleep burnt the motherboard of his brain. If that shitty wire didn't repair itself, he'll go mad for real.

"Woot, we're back to college. What's up? Got a project submission?"

College days were both the best and worst. Gray pulled three all-nighters in a row, sometimes an entire week, and Natsu witnessed and lived those days. In fact, the only beverages Natsu made in the kitchen safely were Gray's coffee and vanilla milkshake. He mastered it like no one else, and it was strange, now that he thought about it.

Usually such an action shows that a person is head over heels for someone, but whom was he kidding?

"That it's only the thrill~~ Of boy meeting girl~~ Opposites attract~~ It's physical~~ Only logical~~ What's love~~ Ah oh~~" Gray smirked as sparks flew. Being an asshole was fun.

"Being your jackass self, I see. Okay! I'm hungry. I'm gonna take the Jeep, ok?"

"Why~~? Baaaaaby whyyyyyyyy~~?"

"To buy us breakfast."

"From where? Special military store?"

"Yup. You're beat, we've missed the mess hall meal, no one's cooking, and I ain't starving myself, so, the dreaded sandwiches again."

"Good call."

Gray's safety glasses reflected baby blue and orange sparks. He wished Natsu said the special military store wasn't his destination. The questions last night about Natsu's conduct rushed to his head, and his fingers squeezed around the metalic tool.

"Want anything specific?"

"What do they have?" Gray mumbled, "Shit, fuck. Do they have soft drinks? No, wait. I don't need it. Tell you what, get the sandwiches. I'll be sleeping, so take the keys with you. Don't you dare wake me up until I do on my own."

"Aye captain."

"Good boy." Gray blew against the wire and yelled, overjoyed, "OH YESSSS! I DID IT BABY! HOOYAH! I DIDN'T RUIN A MILLION DOLLAR WEAPON!"

"Aye." Natsu was emotionless.

Gray's suspicious eyes appeared behind the safety glasses after the sparks stopped. He analyzed the boy leaving in silence, and if Vance wasn't a million-dollar weapon, and Erza Scarlet-the very much officer of the law-wasn't the owner, he'd have thrown it across the room and pulverized it till it wasn't recognizable.

He wanted to ask Natsu so bad about a lot of things, but the answers terrified him. How far has Natsu changed? Just how far?

 _'Go sleep. You're tired and grumpy and bitchy.'_

His sucker laptop grabbed his attention after it had displayed a long ass message, one that he couldn't shut off and head to bed in peace.

"Fuck…"

* * *

"OH MY GOD! What in God's name are you doing NOW? Didn't you say you'll be sleeping?"

"I swear I was going to, but double penetration and sex toys… dude, can't stop. I'm so horny right now."

Natsu dragged Gray from his laptop and study room along the corridor, then tossed him on the sofa in the living room.

"Enough you bastard! Wait here until I'm finished!"

The hint of red on the boy's cheeks signaled abashment from Gray's 'porn' comment. In normal cases he'd find that adorable, but not then.

"Let's go, come on."

Natsu's hand on his arm was a scorpion's sting. It expelled sleep, replaced it with pain, anger, and annoyance. Annoyance that has exploded as he flung Natsu. The boy flew, tumbled on the floor, and almost hit his head against the coffee table's glass edge.

 _'What am I…? Shit…'_

Natsu was helping. He brought them food, he worried about Gray, he dragged Gray so that they could eat breakfast together. Because Gray couldn't go without breakfast. And what did Gray _do_? The guy stared at Gray as if he had pushed him off a dangerous deep cliff, intentionally, **willingly**. He had skipped breathing, and not a limb moved off the floor. Not a 'why the hell did you that for?', not 'You're dead!'. Nothing.

Gray was so self-conscious. How was he going to nurse this?

"Coming, so noisy. My head's about to explode."

If he ignored it, his friend won't take it to heart. That's what he wished for because that was his best bet.

Two minutes later, Natsu trudged towards the dining table. Instead of taking the seat next to Gray, he maintained a one-seat gap and unwrapped the shopping items. That one-seat gap signaled for a cracking rift between them.

Gray's mind soothed him with the thoughts the pressure magnificator's model he obtained lately. Whoever created the device's manual registry was fucked up. They wrote text worthy of a science book, followed by appendices of helpful graphics and the physical model, deliberately dumping both in a cave (on the flash drive) for exploration, or NOT.

That was so user-friendly, thank you very much sickos.

He ended up having the laptop on his left side on the dining table and his food on the right side.

Gray ate while zooming in and out of the model viewer. That doesn't mean his mind was clear enough to process.

Natsu opened his mouth to talk so Gray replied, "It's porn. Sick one. Sadistic."

"I'm sure." Natsu rolled his eyes, "What are you doing?"

"After so much explanation?" Gray chewed, "You disappoint me."

"Are you ever giving me a decent reply? What the hell is that giant bug doing on your desk? Where did you get it from?"

"Giant bug? You offend me." Gray sipped from the tea, "Ahhh, so warm. Natsu, boring stuff. You wouldn't understand anyway."

"Try me." Natsu's used a high tone, thickening with exasperation.

"Later. Can't focus on anything now."

"You sure are doing on the screen."

"Closed." Gray shut the screen and took a huge bite of the smoked turkey sandwich with cheese.

Fuck! He was starving. Thanking Natsu for getting the food was only right, but words refused to come out when he required them to.

"I'm gonna sleep. Can't do this whole staying awake thing any longer."

Natsu stuffed the remaining sandwiches in the fridge, "I'll attend the afternoon practice with Loke, just so you know."

"Just so you know~ This feeling's takin' control-"

Natsu hurled the wet kitchen towel at him.

"Hmmm…" Gray raised the towel with his finger tips and put it aside, "I knew it was Loke. Why so slow in taking a serious leap with him?"

"Ah fuck. Sleep. You need lots of sleep."

"Whatever you say." Gray stretched, "Don't be late."

"Yes, daddy."

What the hell was Natsu contriving? If Loke's not his type, and Natsu damn well knows the guy's hitting on him (he has seen that on the first day), why would he lead him on? Either Natsu was too damn oblivious like a virgin (he ain't one), or Gray read WAY too much into it.

His behavior brought a sour taste in Gray's mouth.

 _'He enjoys his company, that's all.'_

That twisted behavior disturbed him after a whole decade of visualizing his friend as a pure, warm, and kind soul.

Did… Natsu change?

The bed was inviting and big. He removed the safety glasses, his cloths, and sunk into the mattress, incapable of working his brain further.

* * *

 **Fukuoka, Japan – 9:00PM – Blue Pegasus Base, Unit 8**

Ok, what, when, who, which era was he in?

The heavy showers thumped against the window and pulled him out of his peaceful slumber. He expected the afternoon drill of the aircrafts to do it, and he was wrong.

Curse global warming, it was fucking May in Fukuoka.

He reached out for his phone, relief washing over him that a day hadn't passed. He has still got Vance for another day. Outside, the showers washed the landscape, while the lamp posts and vehicles reflected yellow and pink glow on the ripples streaming on the streets.

A yawn escaped him. For a minute, the disturbing dreams and thoughts hushed, and the water thumping appeased his heart. Despite of life complexity, the drama, the heartache, the action, the terror, a dazed smile relaxed his tension, and his eyes, those which reflected the darkest segments of the ocean, captured the tricolor glimmerings emanating outside.

Those vibrant colors in the dark were too beautiful to shun even when he put on the safety glasses to restart his research.

Natsu was nowhere in Unit 8. He said he'd join Sergeant Loke's training in the afternoon, and now it was nine evening. It gave him the sense of a reversed déjà vu.

Natsu was the missing one now.

Gray picked his phone and dialed Natsu's number.

 _"Hey you. You're up?"_

"No, this is the parallel world me from steins gate."

 _"Always so funny."_

"Where're you at?"

 _"Somewhere. Who gives a fuck?"_

"Are you kissing a guy under the rain or something?"

 _"Yeah and enjoying it."_

"Fucker, where're you?"

 _"I'm kissing a guy under the rain~ Hey, don't interrupt my blooming romance."_

"You can never have romance, you're useless."

 _"Oh fuck off Gray-"_ A harsh sneeze, then a sniffle, _"…Shit."_

"Dude?"

 _"… I'm waiting for it to stop raining. Stuck I guess."_

"Why're you stuck? Where's the chivalry of your boyfriend?"

Natsu sniffled and laughed, _"I wanted to go alone."_

"Now you're defending him?"

 _"No dude, I told him I needed to go on my own, period."_

"I'll pick you up." Differences between them aside, Gray wasn't gonna let Natsu freeze and die.

 _"No, It's okay, it's fun. When was the last time I've seen it rain here?"_

"I'll pick you up," Gray wore his black shirt, and black jacket and… fuck, where was his pants? "Location please."

 _"I said it's okay."_

"It's not okay, you said you're stuck."

 _"No-that's-listen, I don't want you to come."_

"I said, I'll come pick you up, so answer the damn question."

 _"… And I said it's okay. Continue watching your porn, I'll be fine."_

"Why is your performance being that of a senseless girl?"

 _"Wah-Why is your performance being that of **a jerk**?"_ He snapped.

"I'm the good guy trying to help, in what way is that jerky?"

 _"Asshole. You've been acting like a stick was shoved up your ass since yesterday, and I dunno why. I mean… for god's sake, you're so unreadable. Bipolar psycho."_

"Are we gonna have this conversation now? Really?"

 _"So typical. Keep dodging conversations. I'm fine with it. I've taken a lot of shit from you and kept quiet because then I'd be a pussy if I do nothing but complain, but this time, you've gone too far. We were laughing and cracking jokes, the next minute—no, no-second-I'm trash!_ _Why? What did I do? This is SO not fair, and you don't wanna have a conversation, to hell with you."_

"…"

 _"At least I beat you up and hurt you physically when I'm mad. You… you, you're the worst. You keep quiet, you keep on bruising me in places where it_ _hurts like a bitch and its unseen and I'd have no idea why. Fuck you, enough with your bullshit."_

Natsu hung up on him.

Somebody, please tell him this didn't sound like a girl throwing a fit? Gray knows Natsu's gay and shit, but that was ridiculous. Gray sat in driver's seat and sighed as he fastened the seat belt, ruffling his hair to get rid of the few rain drops.

His ego was crumbling as he called the gayest in town.

 _"Give it a rest man. I thought I told you to fwwuck owwff."_

"Ok gay boy, where're you?" Gray sniggered, "Bitch, stop sneezing."

Natsu sniffled, _"None of your business."_

"I promise we'll talk. I do, but first you have to let me come and get you."

 _"No, we need not to talk. We can remain in this loop for god knows how long your mood is up for it, and it'd be okay."_

"Natsu. I'm serious. I'm coming your way, and you're not gonna stop me. Now, where the fuck are you?"

* * *

Gray saw Natsu's figure from afar. His back leaned against the wall of the steel framed workshop they visited before. The white and red checkered shirt stuck to his body as water drops rolled down the pink strands of hair, and his bare elbows. Natsu ignored his presence and his annoyance resonated in the air, five meters away in a large Natsu-gnetic field.

Natsu stared at the moon as Gray tapped on the Jeep's steering, expecting Natsu to jump in.

"Shall we?"

"I told you where I'm. Doesn't mean I'm coming with you."

Gray exhaled and honked, "When are you gonna stop being so childish? Hop on before anyone thinks I'm freaking flirting with you."

"Just leave then."

"Look at me." Gray ordered, "You wanna talk here?!"

"I doubt you have anything to say."

"Natsu, get in the car. We'll talk when we get home, I promised you that, didn't I?"

Natsu pursed his lips and his eyebrows furrowed. Gray exited the vehicle and pulled Natsu from the arm towards the passenger seat. He expected resistance, but Natsu moved with him like he's lost all hope, that rain has sated his fighting spirit.

"Come. Let's go." He opened the door and when Natsu was seated, Gray fastened the seatbelt for him.

As he drove them back, Natsu sneezed twice, and had his face looking the other way.

* * *

"So? Talk."

They weren't three minutes in Unit 8 when Natsu demanded an explanation for Gray's actions. He had refused sitting or drying his soaked self or doing anything other than listening to Gray's excuse. Boy, he hated this. They were about to be pushed apart once again, if they went through with this conversation. There was no way they were finishing this off unscathed. He'd be scarring Natsu, and he tried his best avoiding it.

But his friend asked for it.

"I feel you changed." Gray pushed his glasses and crossed his arms, "I'm not certain, but that's what I want to know."

"Huh?" Natsu was lost. Of all things he thought he'd be confronted with... this wasn't it. "Excuse me?"

In Gray's eyes, a ferocious winter raided the warm endearment breezes he showed Natsu whenever he was near. They were condemning, insulting.

"You helped Ondrej, he helped you, cool. There's no real basis why a relationship came out of it. Did you like him for real? Were you taking advantage of his connections? I can't tell."

"… What-"

Gray flashed his palm towards Natsu, "And Loke. He's after your ass and you know it, so why mingle with this guy if you're not interested? Hell, if it's a genuine relationship, I understand, but what are you playing at? That's what I'm thinking of, and that's why I keep quiet, because I know how this sounds."

Natsu's hand held his own arm as he stared at his muddy trainers. His shoulders trembled, not from the cold, but from the bullet Gray shot at him. That's why Gray despised talking.

Natsu swallowed and gave him a thin smile. "You think I'm a cheap bitch." Something in his throat muffled his voice.

Why does Natsu have to be so stupid?

"—That's—nnnnot what I was trying to-"

"-No, that's what you're trying to say."

"No. It's weird, that's all-"

"—Lemme ask you. You think I was having sex with him or Loke now for material or something?"

Yes.

"See?" Natsu's bitter laugh reverberated.

 _'Shit…'_

"Let's forget we ever talked about this, let's just-"

"I'm not." Natsu swallowed, his nose red from the chilly weather and earlier sneezing, "It all depends on how you see it." He waited to gather his stuttering voice, "You know pretty well that I travelled to Guinea to-to help Alzack, right?"

Gray didn't respond.

"He has a little girl." Natsu's voice regained health and delight, "Asuka's so pretty. She helped her daddy and mommy whenever she could. She's a sweetheart, like a magical girl in a damn cliché fairy-tale."

His smile disappeared as he looked down again, "Because of the constant fears that her father might leave his unstable business in Guinea, Asuka cried a lot. She'd be leaving her friends… and she liked a cute boy too-his name's Aaron. She asked for my help. Both kids did… and I…"

Gray pictured it happening because kids always gravitated towards Natsu's kindness.

"Once, I lost someone precious, so I related to her tears, and I wanted to do anything to not break her heart as mine was, even though she's a little thing. I told myself, man she's so young, that's unfair! I hoped I could save her somehow you know, cause she… she doesn't deserve that for the angel she is."

"And… like a miracle or something," Natsu chuckled with a sniffle, "...Ondrej was persistent to help, Alzack and I were astonished. I seized this chance, and… whenever Ondrej asked me to go out with him, I did because I was frightened if I refused, he'd stop aiding Alzack, but I found him likeable, and that's what it was. He was likeable, not a marriage likeable."

Gray listened to every word, but cringed inwards.

"So... Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe I was faking it for material and it bit me in the ass. But if you tell me to look at what I've done and show regret, I won't because Asuka is happy and Alzack is stable."

Natsu's hold tightened on his arm and said, "I'm guilty with Loke's thing… I admit. I promised myself that I was gonna learn a lesson from Ondrej's case, but… he had something that I needed."

Gray raised an eye-brow.

Natsu rubbed under his nose with the back of his hand the annoying rain water and licked his lips.

"… When Gajeel took our guns and the other bag, it had something I needed, so I used him to get into Gajeel's office during the triathlon." Natsu bit his lower lip, his smile joyless, "He knows now. He said, Natsu you're a dick, but I like you and shit. Gray, he and I are great friends and he's acting kindly on his own."

Natsu's cheeks flushed, and his lips trembled as he talked, "In the past three years I've gone through loads of shit you can't imagine. And you're right, I have changed."

 _'No. You haven't.'_

When they became friends, Natsu's kindness and care towards his friends astonished Gray. Natsu was a delinquent, but he would sacrifice a lot to save a friend in need, and Gray should've known better. It was the very reason Natsu respected Gray after he had saved him countless times.

Natsu's methods may be changed, but his core didn't. Never. His dumbass was still the dumbass he knew. Why did he think otherwise? Why did he picture Natsu as the guy himself nicely put 'cheap bitch'? At the very first shout of need in the airport, Gray has failed his friend judging that he was guilty with a forged passport, and he continues to fail him.

Natsu turned towards Unit 8 entrance door, "I'll go. You obviously can't breathe the same air I do in this stuffy place. Thanks for everything so far." Natsu's voice fell as he exited.

What… Natsu was walking out of his life. Gray walked out of Natsu's life, and it had his insides torn mercilessly. Earlier, Natsu had asked him to stay because he couldn't do the whole-we're apart thing-anymore. Truth is, Gray was the one who couldn't do it anymore.

Natsu was the reason he could breathe again, smile, laugh, feel warm things that a human is supposed to feel. Anger was one thing he restored too. Before, Gray didn't blink when Erik sent countless emails underrating his work and bruising his corporate reputation. He owned that shit and harnessed sadism from it then turned it to revenge.

Anger? Natsu always stirred that in him. Sometimes, it was fierce. But that's fine, because that boiling anger was accompanied by care and the need to protect.

 _'What a chicken.'_

He strode out of unit 8 towards the only person who mattered.

The showers wetted his jacket and shirt as if he had taken a dip in the swimming pool. He had to remove his glasses to see the fool who he had gripped his arm to prevent him from making a mistake. Natsu didn't look back, but he resisted Gray's hold.

"'Thanks for everything so far' my ass. Dude, get back inside, this is stupid."

"I…" Gray attempted to pick up Natsu's words, "I shouldn't have come back to your life… I can't. I'd rather die than have you look at me this way, let go… oh god, let go."

"In what way am I looking at you?"

Natsu raised a hand to grip at his own chest, "… like dirt. Like I've lost all my worth and respect from you. I can't stand that, and I won't live with it. Please, I need to go. I'll come later to get my belongings, and I'll ask Loke to stay in the military barracks until we-"

"-Honestly? I didn't think you'd be such a fat chicken."

Natsu's muscles stiffened under his touch.

"One question and you're hauling ass. And you're blaming it on the way I looked at you? Of course I was furious seeing your conduct because it's the perfect trouble magnet. I don't want you in trouble."

Natsu snatched his arm. His back shook with cold and the locked up heated tears, "You always… talk like you know every damn thing when you don't. Unlike you… I care… I care about how I'm looked at by you, that's everything to me… and I've lost that."

Are you serious? Worldwide reporters, please come and witness the idiocy and obliviousness of this guy. Gray didn't deny his pride blossomed from those words, or the floating sensation in his gut, but he marveled Natsu's stupid insecurity. If Natsu died and lived so many times, he wouldn't understand the way Gray looked at him. How his look went far beyond cloths, body… just straight to the heart.

He wanted to own Natsu's heart.

"So, you're gonna discard the way I looked at you all those years and will continue to 'cause of a random confusion? You're giving up on me?" Gray's voice sliced through the rain.

"…" Natsu flinched and looked ahead, "You don't-"

"- **You** don't wanna leave, and I don't want you to. It doesn't make sense that you do." Gray clenched his fists, "Turn around, and haul ass back here, unless you want me to drag it myself."

The seconds Natsu didn't move in, lasted for long. Gray prepared himself to force Natsu into the house and fight hours for it because he couldn't let go, not now when the pieces of their friendship are still sticky with the glue that put them back together.

"Natsu. Here. Now."

The drums of his heartbeats resonated in his ears and his friend turned. His damp hair stuck to his forehead, his red nose breathing slow, and two tears hung on the corner of his green eyes. He progressed towards Gray, lips quivering until he wrapped both of his arms around Gray's neck.

"I… don't wanna leave. But if you don't want me, I'm gone... No matter how I hate it, I just can't."

"But I need you."

Gray squeezed Natsu in his hug. His life and breath returning.

"I do."

* * *

Never came a moment so certain that he wanted Natsu by his side.

* * *

 _To be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** TBD. My (expectation) is 15 days, subject to change.

 **Special thanks to:** Ren, mdelpin, deboome, Jo. Guys, your support means the world to me. I hope this story brings joy and anticipation for all.

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	15. Chapter 15

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** F **i** f **t** e **e** n **O.** o **.O**

* * *

The grumbling water in the electric kettle fought with the harsh thumping outside for dominance. In the middle, Gray stood, his fingers brushing over the black marble countertop, watching the rain as it slid down the glass window.

Good heavens, why?

 _"_ _I want you… I do."_

He had been in a trance since he said those words. The wind chime entertained his ears more than it should with its clinking metal.

The ink-black marble filled with white veins, the splash of indirect light that lit the working surface, and the brick pattern interested Gray who searched a way to undo what he did half an hour ago. He thought hard—like real hard of his statement's indication.

 _'_ _Calm your shit down. You just want him…_ _ **in your life**_ _.'_

He also wanted him, like naked with legs spread apart and everything. But that wasn't what he meant earlier, and he prayed his friend didn't get the wrong idea.

Why was it so bad for Natsu to get the wrong idea? Wasn't Gray determined he'd stay by Natsu's side and request from Natsu the same? Yeah, also, stay in his bed too.

The kettle's tick wasn't the only sound that alerted him, but also, Natsu's sneeze, and with all the heaviness in the world, he huffed and poured the steaming water into a cup with a green tea bag. He stirred it and looked at the pouring one more time before he ambles shirtless into the living room where the scene of rain continued on the glazing.

Natsu graced the sofa with his presence. His pink hair was damp, and the dark blue cardigan didn't prevent the cold from searing into his bones, judging by the hands rubbing and the continuous sneezing.

"Fuck…" Natsu wiped his nose with the napkin and breathed.

"You deserve it. Remember when I told you to fucking get into the car? Nooooo, you didn't want. Look at what happens when you play hard to get."

"Shut it Fullbuster…" It came out softer than Natsu intended to.

"Here we go." Gray placed the cup on the coffee table, and sat next to the boy whose face flushed red.

"Don't tell me you're getting sick."

Natsu scoffed.

"Right. Idiots don't."

Natsu's feet jabbed Gray's leg, "Go away."

Motherfucker. It was the injured leg.

"Ouch. Gunshot. Bullet pierced through my muscle tissues. Rings a bell?"

"Shit!" He pulled away and jumped to examine it, "Shit…"

"Come on. I don't feel it anymore."

That made Natsu's eyes roll. He adjusted himself on the sofa and rubbed his arm for warmth. And there, the silent moment Gray loathed. Usually, it came before someone asked a question, and received a stupid answer for it.

"Listen man, I'm not judging you or anything. I've done things that don't settle well in my belly, but sometimes you do what you gotta do if it's the right thing."

Natsu coughed and his palms hugged the teacup for warmth. His licked his lips and sniffled as his mouth opened to answer, shut, and then it opened again.

"… Being an adult sucks." The pink haired let out, "I've never thought I'd be in that position. I watched the movies and was disgusted from people like me who put on fake faces… but everything I made fun of is my reality. I hate to say this, but the truth about Ondrej's occupation rattled me bad, as well as dad separating us, and… It's all fascinating now."

Gray hummed in response and stretched an arm over the sofa's backing, "Next thing you know I have business with the Japanese Yakuza, and the biggest badass boss ordered me to mingle in and assassinate you for reasons he only knows. I nod my head and carry out my plan when you're sleeping. And Loke is like my partner in crime, so he helps me exit the base, all clean, no evidence."

Natsu didn't move, he blew on the teacup, and tensed, "I'd believe you."

"Really?" Gray smirked, "So what are you gonna do about it? Guess I have no choice but killing you. Maybe I'll dump your corpse in the rain outside."

Natsu's lips formed a lopsided smile. The boy sat aside the teacup as he turned so he faced Gray fully.

"Ok." He shrugged, "I don't mind if you finished me off. At least… I wish. That's the perfect way to go."

The biggest problem wasn't in what Natsu said, it was how Natsu _said it_. The affirmative face, his cut-and-dry tone, and his demeanor... Natsu has _meant_ it. There was no room for argument, and it slashed Gray across the chest.

His throat dried and clogged his words as he stared incredulously at Natsu's fire-fueled determination. He was serious, fuck. His affirmation, what should he make out of that affirmation?

He had lost control over the wave of fuzzy feelings crowding against every inch of his body as those green eyes told him things he wished he could hear.

His stretched arm moved until his hand wrapped around Natsu's damp neck, his thumb hard against the scar there. The boy's Adam apple moved as Gray pressed further, then Natsu looked down.

The desire to kiss Natsu became too great after seeing the genuine resignation from his part. Kissing was better than killing anyway.

If that's the logic followed, rape was better than killing too.

No one can describe how much of a bastard he was. His friend gave him his life, and he was thinking of raping him.

Gray's thumb loosened as his fingers tangled themselves in Natsu's wet pink hair. Everything about that boy was precious… everything.

And when he leaned into Gray's touch with flushed cheeks, he was a beautiful sight.

 _'_ _What am I doing…?'_

Gray's fingers slid on the side of Natsu's blistering cheek, his chin, then his neck as they untangled themselves from Natsu's scorching warmth. It did things to Gray, things he contained and reined with steel bars.

"I… will be in the study room. You should... drink that, it's—good for you." He decided to leave.

"Gray!"

It was a pleading call, one that pulled his attention. Natsu's cry told Gray that he, and he alone, possessed a cure that can grant Natsu mercy. A miracle of some sort. That's how desperate and distressed Natsu sounded.  
Did he take his joke seriously? _Fuck._

"Yeah?"

"You…" Hurt rigged his voice.

"Me?"

"Ah… nothing." Natsu forced an unhappy smile, "Will go sleep first, I'm beat."

"Ok. Call me if you need anything. And watch your back." Gray cackled, "Bam Bam and you're finished."

His face was pancaked by a flying pillow.

* * *

Gray wanted to kick his own ass.

The pressure magnificator waited on the table for its insides to be fiddled with, but Gray's mind lingered on Natsu's statement earlier. With Safety glasses on, he gazed at the rain and the military Jeeps and trucks splashing water against the pavements.

Two hours passed, and Gray accomplished no shit while contemplating about what he has done, or while googling, _what's the worst that can happen if you suddenly kiss your best friend?_ You know the horse-shittery questions girls would ask? His mini-research endeavors revealed a terrifying number of lassies embarrassing themselves online, something that signaled for a blindingly bright generation.

What the fuck did they do in the seventies when they didn't have fucking google? Or ANY other research engine?

Gray threw his safety glasses on the table, legs all strained and squirmy, he took the laptop with him upstairs. Conducting software experiments on Vance wasn't in his or anyone's best interest when his mind hazed, he couldn't risk anything physical with the weapon.

The lump on the left side was Natsu shuddering under the covers, so damn funny.

Gray first stretched on the bed then paid attention to the system on his lap. The urge to create a new function in the artificial intelligence device, wherein it bombs his ass outside Japan from his room was greater than exploring the weapon.

When the shivering next to him intensified, a fragment of him worried.

"Need more covers?"

The back of Natsu's head nodded, so he sat aside the laptop and went to get just that. Gray spread the brown heavy comforter from the neighboring room over Natsu.

"Thanks-wha-"

Natsu's forehead burned under his touch.

"Natsu." Gray kneeled to look at him, "Shit… how do you feel?"

His answer wasn't needed because it was all over the strained face Natsu had.

"… Your hand feels good. Cold."

Gray's suspicion about the fever couldn't be any more correct. His hand left Natsu's forehead as he stood, contemplating.

"… I have medication for fever, but if you're getting sick, It's better not to bring it down unless it goes terrible. Should I wait? Or are you paining a lot?"

Natsu hugged the pillow and sighed with exasperation, "Stop freaking out, this is nothing. Go back to what you were doing and let me sleep peacefully."

Gray's feet showed great reluctance as he nodded and left, getting into the same position before with the laptop. It was better to sweat it out if Natsu's sick, but if this was the worst fever that was gonna torment his baby, then what?

"It's better that you take the pill after all-" He started moving from his spot.

"-Stop. I'm ok." Natsu turned on the side where he could see Gray, "I need your hand though."

 _'_ _How can I work though?'_

"Fine. It's all yours." Natsu's skin escalated from burning to scorching and damp under his palm, "Sure you don't need the pill now?"

"Nope. This is enough." Natsu's smile was hazy as his eyes closed, contented.

"Fine. But I'm getting the pill if it becomes too much."

"Yeah, ok."

"Good boy."

Gray needed to learn how to use a single hand while working on a freaking laptop.

 _'_ _Test one. Let's see if this was worth the agony.'_

Whatever happens to the crappy attempts, nobody could take away his pride in what he had done with the pressure magnificator. You hear that Stephen Hawking? He dissected the weapon (or at least half of it), and re-assembled its parts into one fine ass, created new functions with its software, fixed some loopholes—created a new Vance. Vance Version 2.

What do you know? His career life was winning. Gray remembered a crying spong-pop and refused to let himself bawl with disgrace like the animal, fish, jellyfish, sponge, whatthefuckever. If he was spong-pop, does that mean Natsu was Patrick? Fuck, that Patrick was such a hideous starfish… It's not like Spong-pop was handsome anyways.

 _'_ _GRAY._ _ **Focus**_ _, you could blow up this Unit in a second, god.'_

Gray had conducted as many experiments as his sanity could afford. Hunger was supposed to kick in, but Natsu's situation chipped away his appetite.

When his head buzzed with a weird melody, Gray took a hint and closed his laptop surrendering to sleep. His hand left the sleeping boy's forehead to go take a super quick shower. The thumping of the rain turned into heavy bounces on the room's window and it was about time it stopped because they were in Fukuoka. Boy.

As he exited the bathroom, the whole room flickered white for an instant before a loud roar echoed. The skies thrashed with irritated rumbles, one that was weird. Maybe the rain wasn't _that_ bad. Listening to the pour distracted him from the squeezing thoughts in his head.

At that point, Natsu hummed as he slept—and **enough**. Gray fumbled in his backpack for the fever pills his doctor prescribed for the gunshot treatment side-effects, and sat on the bed, waking Natsu.

"Hmm."

"Open your mouth." Gray's finger pressed the pill against Natsu's lips, and never mind what it did to his lower-half, Natsu needed to swallow it, "Come on."

"Hmmm."

His finger was in Natsu's hot as fuck mouth, above the twice as hot moist tongue.

"Good. Swallow."

Not wanting a stupid arousal before he slept, Gray pulled away his finger and laid down watching Natsu with a queasy sensation. Both of his hands held Natsu's cheeks, he liked it more when the boy was energetic.

"Feels so good…" Natsu smiled, sleeping.

* * *

As a common ritual, the stars, the moon, the meteoroids, the bloody horoscopes, along with other mystical forces in outer space, all agree their anger on the human race should be bestowed upon an unlucky person. That sucker won't be entitled to a good night's sleep.

First, the roaring of the skies, followed by the intense shrilling of the officers' vehicles, then by his friend's annoying coughs, besides being cursed with a restless brain that kept giving him disturbing dreams.

Or nightmares, like when Vance fell and his efforts the past days were nullified.

Because the obstinate coughing and choking got on his last nerve, dumping his tantrum on Natsu sounded the right thing to do. He strode across the room, and cursed while reaching for his pants and putting it on, not bothering with the shirt. His eyes landed on his phone and shoot.

 _4:50AM_

"The fuck, you kidding me, you gotta be kidding man." Gray threw his phone.

He continued to the bathroom and since it wasn't locked, without knocking, he entered.

His voice sounded hoarse, but who cared in that ungodly hour, "Dude! Can you be anymore louder?! What the fuck is wrong?"

"…"

Natsu's head was underneath the faucet that spanked it with cold water, and it freaked the hell out of him. Gray didn't let a second pass, he yanked Natsu away from the water and got a towel to dry his head forcefully.

"What the fuck man?! You crazy fuck."

"D-did I…" Three things were wrong. Natsu was wheezy-strangled, thick, and adenoidal. That disembodied voice belonged to someone else, "—Sorry..."

The boy realized Gray had woken up because of him, but he didn't talk further because he couldn't, instead, his chest crackled with another cough.

"Holy shit, are you alright?"

Natsu's forced a disconnected chuckle, interrupted by violent coughs, "Peachy."

 _'_ _No... That stupid question didn't come out of me, no.'_

Gray padded them inside and as Natsu made it on the bed, he crouched in front of the boy. His palm was hot the minute it touched Natsu's forehead.

"Fever's not going down, and that cough sounds like it's coming from the underworld... I'll give Eve a call, ask him where we can find a clinic with a doctor and-"

"No." Natsu said in a definite decisive tone as he sat, "No."

"No? Excuse me, I don't understand."

"I'll be fine. No big deal."

"If that's not a big deal, then what is?"

"…I've seen worse, trust me. Medical care is a luxury I don't need, I'm sure." Natsu coughed a bit, then swallowed, "I'll sleep it off."

"You can't sleep it off, that's the whole point." He couldn't help his voice getting higher with irritation.

"Leave it…" Natsu got under the covers and cocooned himself.

Gray exited the room, then descended from the stairs and yawned. Dead tired and wanting at least five minutes of good sleep.

He opened the kitchen lights and washed his face to freshen up a bit. As the kettle heated the water, Gray squeezed a whole lemon into a glass, and added one big spoon of honey. Luckily, the freezer had ice, so he put some cubes into a bowl and added tap water on it. Going through all the beige cabinets, he found a kitchen towel.

When the water grumbled in the kettle, he poured it onto the lemon and honey mix and headed upstairs with the bowl and steaming glass.

Gray opened the small table lamp and nudged his friend.

"Natsu. Nat. Get up."

"Hmmm… what-shitshitshitshitshit!"

The chilled kitchen towel was slapped on Natsu's head.

"—Take it off. Take it off now."

The ugly voice belonged to an old man in his sixties.

"—Hands off." Gray smacked Natsu's hand when it pried the cooled cloth off his forehead.

"It's—god!"

Gray repeated the aforementioned act.

"It's supposed to be like this. Dude-" Gray was firm, "Hands off or I call the Eve, your choice."

Few drops of water ran down Natsu's red cheeks, hopefully chilling them too. "That's—I-"

"-Also, drink this." Gray pushed the glass towards Natsu who scrunched his nose.

"No."

"No? You won't let me take you to a doctor, and you won't let me take care of you, then?"

"But it looks gooey and weird…"

" _But it looks gooey and weird_ —are you fourteen? Do you really wanna go against your daddy here?"

"You're daddy?" Natsu stared at him, fascinated.

"Of course… now baby, you've to drink it, otherwise daddy will spank you."

"Baby my foot!" Gray protected the beverage against Natsu's attempt to shove it away.

"Dude, if you stop being fourteen, I'll stop being the daddy. So just drink this for our sakes."

Resigned and drop-dead sick, Natsu accepted the glass and scrunched his nose as he sipped the warm yellow liquid. When all was done, Gray left the chilled cloth on Natsu and warned him against removing it. Bit by bit, Natsu closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. Peaceful, from the looks of it. So yaay, he gets to sleep too.

Right when that thought consumed him as he got comfortable in bed, his phone vibrated on the nightstand next to him.

 _'_ _IGNORE. SLEEP.'_

It continued the vibration, so he adjusted in bed and checked the caller ID.

"Fuck…"

Of all the people, why Hibiki Lates?! Moreover, why Hibiki Lates at this ungodly hour? Five fucking AM.

* * *

Since Natsu has just got to rest, Gray walked outside, went downstairs, and to the study room to take the call because he can't risk having that idiot wake up again.

"Hibiki-san, are you in Japan?"

 _"_ _Yes, I am."_

"Do you know what hour this is?"

 _"_ _Yes, I do."_

"Do you have to do this now?"

 _"_ _Yes, we do."_

"Ok, hold on a sec."

Gray drunk from the energy caffeinated drink he left in the study room that can bring life back to his drooping eyes then got back to Hibiki.

"What's up?"

 _"_ _Where's Natsu?"_

"He's dead."

 _"…_ _That's a jest right?"_

"No, he's dead for real."

 _"_ _Good. Never joke like that again. We take it very seriously here."_

"Noted."

 _"_ _In about two hours, more or less, a team of hulks will be at your place."_

"I don't get it."

 _"_ _Four major servers are down because of rain, and we have a crisis at hand, especially at the time Ondrej is moving. They're coming because we can't afford to have other bitter experiences."_

Gray stared at the ceiling.

 _"_ _The team consists of five people, they're experienced and capable. You've met most of them."_

"Please don't say Loke."

 _"_ _What's wrong with Loke? I thought you guys would get along well."_

"Shit."

 _"_ _You've met Gajeel and Erza, AND Loke."_

"Super."

 _"_ _You'll have two more people coming, one of them will be the lead. Got a lot of hassle convincing Gajeel to give up the lead role."_

"I'm sure. I don't think he gives up the shit that comes outta his ass."

 _"_ _You know him so well… not good. We'll have to force you to work with us."_

"Yeah right, that's never gonna happen, I can tell you that. Why the hell is Gajeel working here if he's such a dick?"

 _"_ _Simple. He's good at what he does. A rarity, but not as a team lead, that's why someone else will take over."_

"Still not convinced."

 _"_ _Surprisingly, you're opposed to Gajeel's presence more than Erza's. Something happened? Or has the ambassador's words bewitched you?"_ Hibiki's tone was pissed.

Fuck. Right. Last time Gray sounded more than ready to bulldozer Erza for her deeds. Gray looked at Vance and then chuckled, "Nah, just remembered Gajeel's encounter first."

 _"_ _I have to go. This is a safety measure taken by our management. And the people who are coming know what they're doing like no one else."_

"I'm not freaking out."

 _"_ _Good."_

"For how long?"

 _"_ _Didn't understand."_

"How long are they gonna be here?"

 _"_ _Until our servers are back in business… which is gonna take some time, and the rain isn't helping. Let's say two days, including the buffer. Our agency will be screwed if it takes more than that. There're a lot of Ondrejs out there, and people who have similar conditions to yours."_

"Understood."

 _"_ _Call if you need anything."_

"Sure."

 _"_ _Stay safe."_

No man is as busy as Hibiki Lates, Gray knew of that fact, thus, he rebuffed drilling the man for details, although Hibiki wasn't telling him everything. From what he grasped, he was forced under surveillance for unspecified reasons, and it irked him.

Curiosity wasn't Gray's trait, but acting under rules he didn't fathom? That's when he got curious.

With irritation bubbling in his chest, he sighed. He would not sleep soon, whom was he kidding? He checked on Natsu once he was on the way to the room, and the boy was out of this world. The wet kitchen cloth was on top of his head, and he was sleeping with a difficulty in breathing.

Gray removed the towel and put his hand on Natsu's forehead.

 _'_ _Not bad. Fucker listened to me after all.'_

He changed his clothes, wore his safety glasses, and before heading to work, he made himself a huge cup of coffee and settled. He continued fiddling with the magnification tool, listening to the rain and he couldn't see the dawn, but it was a little after seven in the morning.

* * *

 **Fukuoka, Japan – 7:30AM – Blue Pegasus Base, Unit 8**

Gray was at a critical moment of welding when the doorbell interrupted.

Having visitors was unlikely, not even the mailman.

 _'_ _Fuck. I forgot the justice league was coming...'_

He marched to the door and swiped the card to open.

The last face he needed to see in the morning, was Loke's face and his usual phony smile. Not even the asshole/Gajeel with his puffed-out chest and degrading look. The other two? Sergeant Sting and… another enigmatic blonde man who Gray didn't have the honor of meeting before.

He didn't think he would be fine with Erza's presence despite of the first bad impression.

"Gray." Why was shaking hands necessary for greeting? Ugh. "I'm sure the General has informed you we're coming."

"He did." Gray forced a complimenting smile, god he was so irritating with his flashy sunglasses. "Come in."

They weren't waiting for his approval. Hibiki was insane because Gray couldn't live with a riv—the potential boyfriend Natsu had in mind. Ondrej wasn't dangerous, Loke was, and Unit 8 couldn't take the intensity of Gray's jealousy.

He wasn't jealous. Just disrupted and thinking of a strategy if he saw them talking with each other in the Unit.

They converted the dining table to a temporary office as they laid all their five black cases.

"Good morning." The tall blonde man shook hands with him, his firm hand-hold jerked Gray half a step forward, "Laxus Dreyar."

"Gray Fullbuster."

The blonde towering over him with good few inches sucked away the air around Gray's lungs, leaving him to suffocate as something in his sharp coral eyes flickered. Gray resisted swallowing the nervous bile in his throat as Laxus Dreyar pierced him with an analytical look, like Gray was a mystery he was figuring out. The scar that slashed his left eyebrow was one of the many things that made him unapproachable.

This guy wasn't like the others. This guy was wildly dangerous. When he was done evaluating Gray, he retreated with the cool of a panther towards his black case on the dining table.

"Sergeant Sting Eucliffe." Unlike the others, Sting gave a thin smile, and no handshakes, bowing with a back slope of no more than five degrees. Gray remembered him from when they first arrived to the military base. He had always given off seriousness and curt sentences.

"We need your phones." Sting's gloved hands were behind his back, holding together loosely.

Gray blinked, failing to understand the purpose of that request. Was it a request or was it an order? Could he even ask?

"… Mine is with me. But my friend's is… with my friend, and he's sleeping-"

"-yeah, we need it. Where's he sleeping?" The blonde's sharp reply made it clear he'd extract their phones, not caring if they were willing. "I'll wake him up."

Gray's eyes widened. "That's unnecessary. He's sick, and he's resting so let me… get it for you."

"Fair enough. Don't forget to get yours."

With that last kick in the ass to move from Sting, Gray nodded. Was being a **jerk** one of the qualifications required to be a Sergeant?

Gray grabbed Natsu's phone that was on the nightstand and shook his head at the boy who slept through the doorbell and Gray's examining hand on his forehead. The fever has gone from worse to fine, but still. Natsu was sick, and he would need medical attention, but Gray left him to sleep since he didn't get enough the previous night.

He got his phone and handed both to the Sergeant.

"Sting." Laxus Dreyar's deep voice raised the hairs on Gray's neck.

It was an unspoken command that Sting nodded at. In seconds, the small squad dispersed in the house. Two went upstairs, and the remaining two searched the ground floor.

"What's going on?" Gray asked no one in particular as he looked left and right.

"Pardon?"

"Why are there people going to the study room and the… bedroom?"

"Protocols to ensure security." Laxus typed away on his laptop, focusing on the screen.

"But there're cameras and-"

"-I didn't know you could do my job."

"That's… I'm trying to understand what's happening around that's all."

Laxus then gave him marginal importance by a look from the corner of his eyes, "When you need to know something, I'll let you know. Trust me on that one."

Hurried in steps with a pinched expression, Sting stood still in front of Laxus and spoke, "Major, we've got an issue."

Laxus shared another silent gaze with Sting and nodded as he followed the blonde.

"Come." Sting's tone wasn't the happiest when he urged Gray to move.

 _'_ _What the fuck…?'_

Gray was the last person to show up in Hibiki's study room. And then it clicked.

 _Shit…_

"Question. What on earth is that?" Laxus asked Gray, who had his hands shoved in his pockets with his thumbs visible outside.

"This…" Gray stared at Erza who paled, "That is… Vance."

"Vance?" Laxus repeated his words.

"Vance."

"This-" Laxus begun.

"-I gave it to him."

 _'_ _Thank god, she is alive…'_

"Pardon? You did what?" Laxus narrowed his eyes at Erza while pointing at Vance, "What in god's name is that?"

"Um, can we… t-talk in private?"

"Answer the bloody question."

The weapon was dismantled, wires out, and wires in. Gray had a voltmeter plugged into it as other cables, data and software displayed on the computer… he didn't need to be a militant with a high position to figure out he and Erza were in deep slimy shit.

That was a governmental weapon, a secret, and five of that existed in Japan. Was he gonna spend the rest of his youthful life in jail?

 _'_ _Just amazing, fuck.'_

Erza Scarlet blanched. The magnitude of problems came crushing down on her like a waterfall. To begin with, they sent her to the blue Pegasus military base for disciplinary purposes, and with her giving a civilian a secret weapon because they both goofed around one another that day, they completed the full recipe for the 100 years of prison time.

"M-Magnificator…"

"Didn't hear you Scarlet. Why don't you add up some volume?"

"The… Pressure M-Magnificator…"

Loke's glasses almost fell off, Gajeel slapped his forehead, and Sting Eucliffe whistled.

Laxus's two strong arms trapped Erza between the wooden cabinet and himself. Having no control over his instinct to protect, Gray jumped to the rescue, but sting held his arms behind his back as Loke's put his palm over Gray's chest.

"Fuck!" Gray gritted his teeth.

"So what's next scarlet? … God oh God, do you want to work as private security at the Zoo?"

She looked down, and Gray couldn't see her full expression because of hulk who stood in the front, only the strained and whimpering amber eyes.

"You gave a civilian a weapon that can destroy an entire army in one blow. If you don't want to work at the Zoo, or end up with a death penalty on barbeque skewers, then pray tell, what's your purpose?"

Her voice was small and trembling, "In my possession… there are lots of different weapons, and… this is—our agency haven't decided whether to treat it as a weapon or a drywall testing tool-"

 ** _Bang!_**

She flinched at the slam on the wooden cabinet.

"-So that's what you're gonna give me? This one wasn't that dangerous, oh yeah sure, let's give it to a civilian who can go psycho at any point of his miserable life."

"-I'm-" She tried.

"-you're lucky you got shot for me once. But you won't be back to airport security for another three years, I promise."

Erza's head shot back up. Her eyes narrowed, and one of her fists banged the cabinet behind, creating a noticeable indent in the thing; Gray could hear the cabinet wailing with tears and uttering, _'Motherfuckers, my wood is imported from the U.K and have you any clue how much that's worth per square meter?!'_

"Do your worst. I'm getting used to working here." The fire and determination that filled her hung Gray's mouth open, and her courage blinded him because not so many **men** had it in them.

Laxus Dreyar's knuckles turned white as he grunted and walked past Gray and the others. His commanding tone was thick with anger, "Close this room. No one enters apart from Sergeant Sting and I. You," Laxus pointed his finger at Gray without looking at him, "We'll have an interesting talk, now."

When he was far enough, Loke and Sting sighed, putting their hands on their chests as Sting loosened his grip around Gray's arms.

"Maaaaan. That was… not bad. Erza, I swear there're lots of cracks in your head. Serio—what the fuck? What were you trying to do? Get yourself abolished from the freaking Justice agency? You wanna go make hamburgers on a freaking truck on an unknown touristy island? Shit!" It may have been whispers, but Loke's face burned and minimizing the shouting made his voice sound like an angry child, "Even then no one would buy your hamburgers because you chose the wrong profession! And the hot guy next to you with the lemonade and strawberry smoothie stand will make the money!"

"You're wrong. Even that guy won't be making money because people like the Pina Colada stand. I know." Sting commented.

Wait, that guy can talk like normal human beings?

"You both are idiots. It's obvious that the person standing with a guitar in his arms will grab all the attention and THEN they realize, oh we should've hired that guy for our business to blossom." Gajeel interjected.

Sting, Loke, and Erza (and Gray yeah) stared at him for at least a minute in which Gray wanted to do something horrible to the guy.

Erza's chest released a tired sigh, and her eyes turned from bright to miserable. "You three are right… what am I doing…"

Gray's chest tightened in shame, "I'm-I'm sorry. Sorry-"

Erza stopped him with her palm.

"My emotional decision that day got me into this and nothing else, it's my responsibility."

"You saved the Major's life once, so don't worry. He's enraged, and he needs time to calm down, that's all."

"I wish that's true…" Erza was well aware the blonde didn't want her to freak out, but it wasn't that easy.

When Major Laxus Dreyar called, they all headed out, and Sergeant Sting closed the room, demolishing the little joy Gray had in life.

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** TBD. My (expectation) is 15 days, subject to change.

 **Special thanks to:** mdelpin, deboome, Ren. Guys, you're thhhhheeeee besssstttttt.

 **About Next chapter:** Well... Just that Gray's getting a lot of surprises, and not all pleasant. Of course, it's a Natsu-related surprise.

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	16. Chapter 16

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** S **i** x **t** e **e** n **O.** o **.O**

* * *

Previous Chapter Recap

Hibiki has communicated with Gray, informing him their servers were damaged because of the storms and rain, so he sent him a team of 5 people, out of caution. Laxus finds out about the weapon (Vance) that Gray has been working on, which was initially given to him by Erza Scarlet.

Meanwhile, Natsu has a terrible case of flu. Gray's worried about his friend, research, and... where is this leading?

* * *

"Are you licensed for weapon possession?" The major pressed on the pen's head.

Gray had his thumb supporting his chin and his index finger up his cheek.

"Why don't you ask Hibiki Lates? He granted both me and my friend, a certificate with several other documents legalizing firearms and whatnot-possession."

"I assume that happened after the training." Laxus strengthened his tone, "How long was your training?"

"A month and a half. We had several guns, unfortunately because of Sergeant as-Gajeel's jurisdiction, they got confiscated at the date we arrived."

Gray was irritated because A: No one likes interrogation, and B: Being in the same room with Sergeant Gajeel irked him.

"You said you had training. Hard to believe with that injury of yours." This statement's implication stirred Gray's blood. Not only he did he doubt Gray but also, he accused Hibiki Lates of unprofessionalism.

God, the fellow should give it a rest. "I was lucky the shot was in the left shoulder. It was super difficult to use one arm, but there was no other choice, I had to push hard."

"Hmm." He jotted notes down, puncturing Gray with his fierce gaze, "When was the last time you've had a drug test?"

What's the fucking purpose of that fucking question?

"… Around three weeks ago. When we had to practice shooting at the agency."

"We'll take a fresh one after we're done."

"… Am I supposed to nod and agree?"

"When did you get a hold of this weapon?"

"Almost four days ago."

"Do you have a clear idea of what this weapon is capable of?"

"Uh-huh."

"How far have you gone dissecting it?"

"Not far. I know the basics. It's pretty… intricate for me." Gray lied.

"Were you authorized by any of the law enforcement offices to possess heavy weapons? Before all of this mess?"

"No. I have an Electrical Engineering license that needs renewal next year, thank you for reminding me. Also, driving license, heavy vehicles, motorbikes."

"Are you authorized by any of the law enforcement offices to conduct any research on governmental weapons? Or any? At all?"

"That's… no."

"Does anyone have access to this weapon? Your friend?"

"None."

"Your research is gonna be quarantined, and your laptop will be confiscated. If you've got data elsewhere, inform us, otherwise the consequences will be vast. You must show up for another session of questioning in the chamber of justice, under proper conditions."

"Again, am I supposed to nod and agree?"

"This is an official paper that states you relinquish all your research rights to us. Sign here, now."

So what? The time he devoted in studying Vance's complex details, tweaking its functions, inventing solutions to increase its practicality, THOSE precious hours of knowledge and struggle were wasted? Because of what? Because of who?

"I need to… speak to Hibiki Lates."

"You can speak to him after you sign the paper. I can't take any chances."

"Chances of _what?_ Do you realize that you've asked me nothing but stupid questions? Your guys confiscated our guns, so you know we're authorized to hold firearms. You KNOW that I had my blood drug test taken when I joined this program of protection. Why should I turn in another blood test? And my research's intent isn't evil, she told you it wasn't used by the government to begin with so why the bloody fuss?"

"Human intents aren't trustworthy in our field. Sign the paper. Now."

Laxus placed the sheet in front of Gray and tapped his finger on it once, an orange thread flickered in his eyes and battled Gray's frosty stare of resentment. Gray wanted to call Hibiki, but if Major Laxus said he can do that after, then?

Gray had man pride and lots of ego, promise. The one person who made him swallow all of it down, was Erza Scarlet. She stood with a stiff spine and Gray didn't wish to put her in further trouble. She was nice (and stupid) enough to give him the time of his life the past four days with the artistic piece; it was time he paid her back.

She restrained his arms and jailed his objection capability. He had no other options.

"Good. Sergeant, please take a blood sample and let's drop it today for results."

If Erza wasn't standing there, reminding him of how deeply in shit she was, he would've screwed up the interrogation then ended up in the detention camp because of resisting Sergeant Gajeel's touch for a blood sample and sandwiching his face.

They closed the study room and sealed it with a red tape, and no access to the laptop or the research. Gray wasn't wild or riled up always (that's Natsu).

But when things came down to _his_ research, his efforts…

Erza Scarlet's issue was troublesome. Yet, his brain was consumed on how to retrieve the research, the hours, the days of work. Could he break into the study room, get it, and run into one of the SUVs? No, he wouldn't get too far with all the checkpoints and other hurdles. Plus, he'd abandon Natsu one more time. Heck, he'd abandon his mom and live as a refugee.

Calm down… there must be a way to do it other than ending up being a criminal living in the outskirts.

As Gajeel pricked his vein for blood, Gray grew a swollen thirst for vengeance while his glare clashed with Laxus's. The man's rigid posture, his commanding tone, the demeaning looks—he was the worst, hands down.

There was an unspoken promise, that if Gray ever got out of that mess, the Major won't know what hit him.

"I'll give you a piece of advice." Laxus said, "You need at least thousands of years before you could make me your opponent."

Gray chuckled with darkness clouding his vision. His toes itched to move, but he pressed them to his seat.

* * *

"So where are the dogs? There could be drugs you never know." Staring at the rainy sky from the six-paned window, Gray asked no one in particular as he stood, hands in his pockets, "Fucker."

He jerked his head backwards when a hand patted his shoulder.

"You did good back there." Erza said, her shoulders slumped because she couldn't provide help.

"Could you—maybe… I have an injury here-"

"—so sorry."

"-It's okay. That guy. Oh man, that guy." He snorted.

"Gray, I know where he's coming from. Put yourself in his shoes. At least if Hibiki had known about it, he would've reacted differently. Your problem is me. In the past, I had power, but now I'm being looked down upon until I earn their trust back."

"And now, I've screwed you big time."

"I'm not bothered." She smiled, "I gave it to you because… I felt I could trust you. I have no regrets. None."

Erza's warmth mitigated Gray's homicidal mood and restored rationale.

"I'm sorry, I know this is selfish, but this is an experiment I've started, and, I can't put into words how that bastard is-"

"-I know. As much as this irritates the hell out of me, Hibiki is your solution."

He held the bridge of his nose and exhaled staring at the water cascading on the glass.

Their little talk stopped when Gray spotted Natsu on the stairs, coughing all the way down. The boy was in black jeans and smoke white t-shirt, with a tissue in his hand, and weary eyes. He coughed and his lips had lost their healthy color.

"Good morning." Natsu bowed to Erza, "Can I… have my friend for a second?"

Natsu's condition was worsening because his voice was shittier than last night and he may have ridden himself the fever, but as he introduced himself, Gray verified that his friend needed medical attention.

"Dude, it's okay."

"Uhm, we need to talk, really." Natsu fumbled with the tissue.

"It's okay. I know what you wanna ask." Gray explained, "Hibiki called this morning, said they had issues with their servers and until it's fixed, Gajeel is gonna be staying with us… along with the others here. This is Erza Scarlet."

"Seems we disturbed your sleep." Erza said.

"Well, I was trying to understand-"

"-you got plenty of time. Excuse me, I have to go."

 _'_ _Ok?'_ That was cold and awkward. Was she not comfortable around Natsu?

"I have a problem." Natsu sniffed as looked at the glass, avoiding Gray's eyes, "I can't find my phone, and dude, I'm in a shitty mood, so if you think it's funny-"

"You've got a lot of catching up to do."

"Huh?"

* * *

"You said it was freaking porn." Natsu coughed, "What…? You fucking kidding me? You nuts? You were toying with a lethal weapon all along? Forget that it's a secret bla-bla-bla, what about blowing the house with ME in it?"

Gray shot him a careless look.

"Look, she gave It!"

"Seriously?! That's what you're gonna give me?!"

"Congratulations, you just provided the same answer that asshole gave an hour ago."

"… What?"

"—Ok, forget what I just said—actually no. What was I supposed to do if she gave it to me like it was candy?"

"You wanted to fry us both? Even **_I_** wouldn't have done that knowing that you're with me in the same unit! That thing could have toxic radiations that SHE isn't aware of, and this isn't a goddamn laboratory—GOD-IS YOUR BRAIN ON HOLIDAY?"

"Oh my god... are you Natsu?"

"Dip-shit Mother—did you forget I was working in the mines? Hello HSE 101? Hello Fire life and safety and security inductions? Hello training-"

"—Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Say it four times and you're an idiot."

"Shut up."

"Unbelievable… I was living with a _bomb_ … I _touched_ that thing, shit." Natsu slapped his hip.

"Think about it. It's perfect. We both die together and… together forever, right? If you don't die with me, then who are you gonna die with? Friends for life and death dude."

"And _I_ was the reckless one…" The tissue in Natsu's hand blocked the countless number of coughs when his chest got so irritated from Gray's bullshit.

"You know what? You need something strong for that."

"Duh-" Natsu said in between coughs.

He intended to talk to someone about it, mainly Erza, but refrained from it when he saw her conversing with the Major. His other option was to kick himself in his jealous ass and talk to Loke. How he hated himself! Sadly, Loke was the guy who had a crush on his friend, so his help was ensured. He approached Loke with heavy steps and forced himself to be civil while asking.

"I see. What happened there?"

"He's sensitive to cold." It wasn't a lie.

"Let me see what I can do." Loke headed over to Laxus.

So not only protection was forced on them but also they couldn't go out as they pleased, interesting. Gray's contempt levels aroused to a new level.

Loke walked back and shook his head, "… sorry."

"Sorry?" Gray repeated.

"The major won't allow him to walk out."

"Bullshit!"

Gray stomped towards Major Laxus Dreyar and **_screw it_**.

"Major."

"Yes?"

"My friend needs medical attention, now."

Laxus didn't take his eyes off the screen of his giant laptop, then asked, "Is he severely injured?"

"No, it's not-"

"Is he having a seizure?"

"… No."

"Is he having a violent allergic reaction?"

Gray paused before answering with 'motherfucker' as his speech's opening sentence, "He has a bad cold. Last night he had fever and-"

"-his condition isn't critical on my criticality bar, thus, he's prohibited to exit this place. And so are you."

Gray's patience-to-explosion bar was awfully close to hazardous detonation. His eyes were narrow and hateful and he couldn't keep it from showing to the Major of assholes.

"I need to talk to Hibiki Lates."

"Your-"

"-Now. I need to talk to him now. Under your surveillance or whatever shit, I don't care."

A staring battle took place in the living room between strict yellows and raging blues. It has ended when Laxus handed Gray a phone to call Hibiki Lates and hasn't made objections when Gray walked off to speak in private.

 _"_ _Hello-"_

"Don't 'Hello' me."

 _"_ _Laxus sure is making a good impression…"_

"Listen. He took our phones, he searched our place, he quarantined my research, and I said nothing, cool? Now, I tell him Natsu is freaking sick, and he says he can't go for medical attention, what kind of bullshit is that? YOU tell me what to do?"

 _"_ _-you have to-"_

"-are we the villains here? This is house arrest, and it's not funny. You better explain what's going on before I go postal! He is pushing me to explode, and you won't like it if I do, I promise."

 _"…"_ Hibiki sighed, then said, _"How bad is Natsu's condition?"_

"You—I told you to explain what's going on! Did you listen to what I-"

 _"_ _-Yes, I listened. How bad is Natsu's condition?"_

"-Hibiki-"

 _"_ _-How bad?"_

Gray looked at the ceiling then lightly slammed the wall with his fist.

 _"_ _Gray?"_

"He-" Gray decided that attacking Hibiki won't help, he needed to focus on getting his friend medical attention, "He had a bad fever last night. And a cough. The fever is gone now, but the cough is terrible, he can't speak without it."

 _"_ _That's karma for you."_

"What?"

 _"_ _I'll allow you to leave with one of the team members to get medicine from the military's infirmary. You describe the situation of your friend accurately to the nurse, and they should help."_

Gray was hung up on Hibiki's earlier comment as he responded, "Why? We can move together and-"

 _"_ _Natsu is prohibited from stepping out. Either you do that, or he gets nothing. Your choice."_

"This is vague. Why is this vague?"

 _"_ _There're certain things that I can't always share with you. It's part of my job. So? Take my offer or leave it, up to you."_

Hibiki's tone said _'I'm too busy for this.'_

"Fine."

 _"_ _Give me the major."_

 _'_ _I can't believe it… why this womanizer asshole…'_

Gray handed Laxus the phone. Both talked for a while before Laxus called him in.

"Sergeant Loke will escort you to the military's medical unit and wherever else you need to go."

Hell no. HELL NO.

"I believe Erza-"

"Sergeant Loke. It has already been discussed with the general. If you need to complain again, please take the phone and be my guest. We can do this all day and your friend stays in his condition or worse."

His jaw clenched so hard it hurt. Internally, he put extensive efforts into figuring out ways to escape this disturbing lock on their lives.

"Gray?" Natsu came out of the bathroom with a runny nose, "What's going on?"

He wore his shoes and put on his black jacket as he looked at his sick friend. That guy… fuck. If Natsu knew how much Gray gave up for him. What is pride? It's nothing if Natsu was involved.

"You sit tight and wait for me, okay?"

"I'll come with you." Natsu stepped closer.

"No. You need to rest. I need to get something from outside and they won't allow me to go alone."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Don't we all? Relax. Will be back quick."

"But-"

"-Natsu." Gray dragged his friend towards the sofa and sat him down, "It's not my call. This is above me and you."

They shared an understanding look, then Gray was gone.

He slammed Loke's tactical light vehicle's door shut, yanked the seat-belt and shoved it in its host, resting his elbow on the narrow window. Sergeant four-eyes chuckled and sat as slow as possible.

"Wow, it's pouring hard."

Gray's ice couldn't be melted, and there was no signal showing that he was interested in a stupid conversation about the weather. In fact, being with this guy in the same car, added fuel to his hatred and contempt.

"And you thought Gajeel Redfox was bad, huh?"

"No shit. I think assholism is a quality most of your superiors have, and with abundance."

Oh why did he bother to respond?

"Yeah? Me too. This time it's all Hibiki though. Put the blame on him. That and Freed isn't here."

Gray didn't respond thinking about Loke's words.

"Freed is Laxus's right hand. Sting's replacing him that's why his mood's tetchy."

Why would Gray wanna know that? He watched the windshield of the vehicle wiping the glass and stayed silent.

"I was wrong when I told you to blame Hibiki Lates. You should blame none other than Natsu."

 _"_ _That's karma for you."_

Gray's eyes widened and jerked his head to the left.

"… What does that mean?"

"Oh?" Loke gave Gray a brief look from the corner of his eyes, "So you don't know?"

"…" Was there something that he was supposed to know? Was there?

 _'_ _Don't give this fucker attention.'_

"When we're back, you can always ask your friend."

Gray focused on the slippery road and tried to connect the puzzle. Problem is, he didn't have enough pieces, and he was horrified that Natsu might have/or certainly has sufficient information to solve it for him.

They have made a stop at the military's market to get enough food for the squad occupying the house and headed to the medical unit next where Gray has done his best explaining the symptoms of cold and flu to the local nurse.

And Loke was next to him checking the condoms. Gray doubted himself. Even if Natsu's health was at stake… how could he agree to go with that guy—and why did he flirt with the nurse? He ended up dragging the Sergeant out of the infirmary with force, urging him to go back to give Natsu the necessary dosages of the medicine.

"She's cool, right? Damn hot."

"…" Gray maintained his patience.

"She's not your type?"

"You know…" Patience screwed, he was riled up, "I don't care."

"You gay?"

"That's—Please don't project yourself on me."

"I'm gay?"

"No. You touch and date my friend 'cause you're straight."

The vehicle bounced on the street with Loke's chortles and Gray couldn't help but to scowl. He wasn't being funny to earn the sniggering.

"You think I'm gay? Gosh, if Hibiki Lates hears you… oh god."

Loke remained in hysterics for about three minutes, then wiped the tears and tried to speak.

"I'm glad you judge so, but I'm not. Swear to god."

"You throw confessions in the air then?"

"Hahaha." Loke stammered, "He told you about that?"

"He's my friend, he tells me everything."

"Wooh." He paused, "That's—ok. You jealous?"

"…" Gray glared. "Could you hurry?"

"That's a _yes_." Loke smiled, and it was vexing, "Otherwise you won't freeze me with that stare."

"Huh? Why are we even talking about this? No offense, but I don't have to explain myself to you."

"Natsu thinks I'm gay for him, but I'm not. It was Hibiki's idea. I played a role and monitored his unpredictable actions. Don't be jealous."

Hibiki? Did what? How-what?

"And it's good that Hibiki didn't trust him. He's a trouble maker, but I feel you're different. You're a trouble magnet."

"I can't understand what you mean. What the hell is happening?"

Gray's whole body jerked forward when the car halted.

"What the…?!-"

"-you might think we came today because of the rain—servers or other bullshit, but that's a cover up. The idiot has used one of our phones to communicate with his boyfriend, day before yesterday—from our station—does he know the consequences of his actions? He doesn't, because he's an idiot."

The resonance of the light shower thudding swept Gray.

"He doesn't know that he's jeopardizing none other than you two… and us. Criminal raids take lives. He's made a big, big, big mistake. Hibiki wanted to tell you, but he made sure we're there first so you won't be reckless."

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Preview:**

"You jerk!" Natsu's palms pushed Gray's chest with all the power he could master, "What's wrong with you?!"

"I'm paranoid." Gray tripped back a step, and yelled, "Guess whose fault that is!"

"I told you there's nothing!"

"Oh, I believe you."

"I don't have to prove anything to you!" Natsu's shoulders quacked.

"Should I go tell the Major about this? I'm sure you'll be questioned thoroughly and nicely. And in the end he'll make you sign on relinquishing all your rights as a human being."

Natsu attempted to speak, but Gray gave him a look that says, _'Don't. fucking. Mess. With. me.'_

"Don't." Gray threatened, "Not today."

"You're threatening me? First, you say that monster is innocent, and now you're threatening me? Why don't you shoot me?!"

"I would. They confiscated our weapons." Confidence dripped with each word that made Natsu speechless for seconds.

"Guys. ENOUGH. Are you reenacting high school days or something?"

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** TBD. My (expectation) is 20 days, subject to change. GUYS, so sorry I've uploaded this late. Blame my hectic working environment. It HAS BEEN CRAZY LATELY, LIKE SO SO SOOOOOOOO CRAZY! I've added this preview as an apology, forgive me!

 **Special thanks to:** deboome (Laxus is even more terrifying here i believe hehe), JO (You seem shocked!), Arsenic4tea (Hey there! Thanks for the comment. You're absolutely correct about the name, Gray in this case is reminiscing about the cartoon, so he can't remember the name correct, sorry if i conveyed that wrongly. Let me know if you have other inquiries and thanks for the time you invested in reading this!). Guys, you're all my babies. Thanks!

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	17. Chapter 17

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** S **e** v **e** n **t** e **e** n **O.** o **.O**

* * *

When Natsu was a baby, they dropped him. Someone must have dropped him and Gray betted a heck a lot of money on it because _no one_ can be that dumb.

As soon as they reached Unit 8, Gray handed over Natsu's medicine to Loke, and answered some of Laxus's detailed questions about the weapon (again). From the corner of his eyes, he spotted Natsu chatting away with Loke, the very person who was assigned to monitor him.

Natsu pal, what's your problem? Why do you mess up so badly?

Is Ondrej Jeremiah of that much importance that Natsu keeps falling back to him? Jellal Fernandes saw the thin line between life and death-HECK, Gray almost did because of this guy. He's a freaking drug dealer, a freaking abductor—The question is, what's right about him? NOTHING.

Natsu, just _nothing_.

"I need tons of sleep." Because he nursed the stupid asshole the night before and didn't get a wink since then.

Erza's attitude showed that she had known about Natsu's misdeeds, therefore, she avoided the boy earlier.

"You alright?"

Gray was _furious_. He was far from being alright. "I can't understand. I'm trying to, but I can't."

Erza nodded, "He's too brash. He could've gotten you both in danger."

Gray thought, he's important, and that he was retrieving his lost throne in Natsu's heart and life, but what was he thinking? Those two almost got _married_. That has to say something about how close they once were and Gray wouldn't reach there. He was the friend, the best freaking friend.

The one that Natsu screwed—never mind, he screwed both of them.

As he settled in bed, he reached for his phone to check time, then it hit him. He doesn't have his phone.

Gray laughed forcefully.

He doesn't have his phone, his research, his freedom, his job.

He has lost a lot of shit for nothing because apparently; he cared too much about protecting Natsu's ass, but Natsu never shared the sentiment—it's about damn time Gray lets go. That's it! He'll let go of those pitiful feelings, this pitiful friendship, and after this dilemma ends, he's gonna reenact what happened in the past.

 **He will fucking turn around and leave Natsu's life for good.**

Can he sleep? He took his clothes off, and with the softness of bed sheets under his bare skin, he listened to the pouring of rain, the crackling of the sky and heart.

* * *

He thought sleeping would be impossible, but really, it wasn't. With the amount of hours he was awake, plus the day's tension, it was _easier_ for his body and mind to surrender to sleep and forget unpleasant things.

"—Lunch, hey!"

His head was groggy, and his brain buzzed. For a minute, he was only seven years old, in the middle of snow, back in the village he grew up in. The villagers there patted his head and provided him warmth. And it felt good. The minute was burden free, was innocent, kind and beautiful, and he wished it lasted.

When Natsu's face became clearer, the minute vanished and a negative pulse aroused in his chest.

Before Natsu could shake him again, Gray slapped his touch. With a creased face from sleeping, Gray asked gruffly, "What is it?"

The boy backed off and carried himself away from the bed.

"They brought lunch and said you need to be awake." Natsu's voice signaled his situation was worsening, "Hibiki's calling in sometime. They said it's important."

He reached out for his phone unconsciously, and FUCK, it _pissed him off_ that he didn't have it. What was the fucking time? He needed to put on his fucking watch and ASAP.

The heavy pour turned to faint showers. Hasn't it stopped since last night?

He wore his pants, then headed to the bathroom to wash his face, and when he came out, Natsu stood in front of him. Gray moved, and Natsu blocked his way.

"We need to talk."

 _Oh no, we don't._ And this time, Natsu's cuteness wasn't going to be enough. He needed to see the fucker suffering. With a firm resolve, Gray marched forward boldly, shoved Natsu so that the sick boy hit the wall. He wore his shirt while glaring.

"Gray!"

Gray sniffed and closed the zipper of his pants. He was heading downstairs, when Natsu was blocked his way a second time, and god knew how he wanted to strangle him to death.

"Gray… let me-"

He clenched his fist and stomped forward, jabbed Natsu's chest, causing the boy to hit the jamb of the door. There was no use talking to Natsu. None whatsoever. He wasn't gonna waste his time, enough of that. There were other things in life that needed his attention.

The clock in the kitchen displayed 4:45PM.

"Looking friendly much?" Loke remarked, his mouth full of the sad sandwich as he saw the beautiful vibes coming out of Gray.

Gray prepared coffee while watching the rain and his stomach growled.

"Yeah, it's not stopping soon." Loke said, "Ah-listen. Laxus has sat with Natsu this afternoon and it's-"

Gray stopped Loke with his palm in Loke's personal space. _He couldn't care less_. If his friend sneaked around to speak with his boyfriend, then fine, he can do whatever the hell he wants because Natsu's not Gray's issue anymore.

He decided they are both strangers from that point onwards.

"Ooook…" Loke was startled, "So you don't wanna know."

Gray stirred the coffee in the cup and fixed his gaze on the window.

"There're sandwiches over there. It sucks, but that's the option we have at the moment. Hibiki's calling for a meeting in about half an hour. It's important."

Gray was famished, and in that situation, he'd eat paper and think it's delicious. Frankly, Hibiki Lates irked Gray with his vague orders and too-busy-to-explain anything nature. Gray wanted out of the Blue Pegasus military base, and out of this house-arrest business.

* * *

In half an hour, the limited living room was stuffed with the militants. Natsu and him sat on two dining chairs while waiting for Hibiki to communicate with Laxus's phone.

When did the place become so small?

Natsu's grilling stare's intent was to bring down Gray's silent treatment, but hell if it succeeded. The aroma of the coffee soothed him as he crossed one leg over the other and sipped from his cup while fixating his gaze on the portrait of the old man.

A minute later, Hibiki was on and Laxus stopped tapping his fingers on the coffee table.

 _"Apologies. Too much going on here."_

Gray saw the look on Laxus's face and translated it because it replicated Gray's ' _Oya? Aren't_ _you too busy all the time to sound comprehensible?'._ Major Laxus Dreyar was a seasoned jerk, but at that special moment, he shared a feeling with Gray, and that counts.

 _"The director and I were trying to put together a plan to deal with this crisis, and we thought of something. This wasn't so bad after all!"_

Loke laughed, shaking his head.

"How on earth did you reach that conclusion?"

 _"Natsu, such a troublemaker you **are**. Fortunately, Ondrej should be lured to this base where the handcuffs are gonna be ready for him. It's convenient. We don't have to waste our resources searching or tracking him. Instead, we make it so he can track us. Risky, but the director is adamant."_

Laxus nodded, "Otherwise he won't be himself. Always demanding."

"And?" Natsu was on his feet. Coughs rumbled in his chest because of the violent tone, "If you're thinking of using my help, th-think again!"

The eyes of the militants were on his trembling figure, but the Major's subtle glare held enough contempt and belittling.

"Kid. You flatter yourself." Laxus intertwined his hands and ignored Natsu's abrupt burst, "I assume you're already aware of who I want with me on this, general."

 _"Way ahead of you. Your teams are getting ready to meet with you. My girl included."_

"I can work with that." Laxus nodded.

 _"Gray, I have something important to discuss with you."_

It was Gray's turn to capture attention, Natsu's too. Fuck, he must have looked uncool wiping the coffee cream off his chin. And that fucking scene… an image of a high school student being called to the principal's office popped. What was the punishment again?

 _"Is Gray there?"_

"… I hear you."

 _"What were you trying to achieve with the pressure magnificator?"_

"…" Gray cleared his throat and the stares set on him nearly made him stutter. "Nothing-" He was that high school student that was caught in the hallway with a packet of cigarettes, or weed. Fuck, this was worse; this had his life at stake.

 _"-I'm not gonna imprison you, trust me."_

Gray snorted, "You kinda already are."

 _"Just **answer**."_

He licked his lips, crossed his arms over his chest, appearing defensive, "I… thought it was a shame the device has poor control parameters. The more sophisticated the parameters are, the more force it produces… and I was struggling with the power generator and the customization of codes to automate the device launching, plus embedding extra features… and… that's… it…"

Laxus shifted and sent him a warning look to stop talking. Gray didn't have to comply, but he did. Something in that _'you gotta stop'_ stare froze him.

 _"Why were you struggling?"_

"Because…" Laxus tousled his hair and removed his commanding gaze, so Gray resumed, "I can only manipulate binary numbers, but, hexadecimal numbers are… tricky and I can't go that far without help—or internet. More professional help than the internet."

 _"My director has figured your intentions from the data we received. And he wishes to provide you assistance. We're interested to see where that goes, and even better, in live application."_

"General!" Laxus's tone escalated close to yelling, freaking the shit out of Gray and the others, "You know the _repercussions_. He goes far into that research, then be damned to live the rest of his life restricted! He's a kid!"

Hibiki wanted him to resume his work? A spark of joy kindled in his chest. That was the best thing that happened that day.

 _"Gray, what do you need?"_ Hibiki didn't answer to Laxus Dreyar who shared a frustrated look with Sergeant Sting.

Shit! Gray was grinning, and he couldn't stop!

"I need an expert when it comes to coding."

 _"Do you know someone good? Or shall we propose? If there's someone in mind, I'm sure the process would go faster and seamless."_

"…." Gray thought hard, then shook his head, "There is. Sadly, it won't work."

"Hibiki. Are you listening to me?" All the parties flinched at the major's bang on the table.

 _"Tell me."_

At that point, nothing stopped Gray from saving his work and getting back at the asshole major's face _._ Who knew that he'd get it back by the very government that confiscated it?

"The only person I know is a genius… but, it won't work."

 _"Tell me. Who?"_

"Remember Gildarts Clive?"

* * *

It was like Gray had a machine gun and shot all the people in the room because they were all _dead_ silent and cold. He looked for ways to exonerate himself from saying the name, then Natsu came into his field of vision, and it petrified his body as he stared at the phone on the coffee table.

"Just to be clear, I said it won't work… ok?"

His ex-managing director's name was a bomb. And his statement earned more attention than it should. Gray was going to reiterate the words _won't. work._ but Laxus yanked the phone closer, drawing in a breath before speaking.

"General, I can't allow a civilian to get hold of a deadly weapon and risk my team's safety. I'll pretend I didn't hear that name, so tell the director to reconsider his plans."

Hibiki made noises close to a groan, _"Understood. I'm taking all your concerns to him. In the meantime, the three teams will head your way. I trust you will reorganize as you see fit."_

Laxus cleared his throat.

"Assault, command, technical support. It's the way I go by."

 _"Great."_ Hibiki said.

"Who's gonna be the lead of the assault section?" Gajeel asked, excitement jumping in his eyes, as if already knowing the answer.

 _"—Who else?"_ Hibiki scoffed, _"Bunch of kids needs to be under a bigger kid."_

Gajeel Redfox shrugged Hibiki's comment. "They need discipline."

 _"I'm happy for you. Major, for which division will Erza Scarlet serve?"_

The man in question steepled his hands and brought them to his mouth.

"Because of field experience and physical capability..." Erza flinched at his words, but he carried on after he gave her a stern look, "Assault."

Hibiki nodded. _"All I ask is that my girl reports to me, she's not to be given orders. Gajeel, don't try, and even if you try, she won't listen to you. Major, overlooking is the key word, don't order her around, no matter what. You have a complaint, you come to me, you know the drill."_

"Don't… impose stupid decisions, and I won't."

 _"Again, let her be."_

"We'll see,"

 _"Regarding the pressure magnificator issue, I shall contact you soon."_

The minute Hibiki ended the call, Laxus Dreyar stood and shot Gray a glare.

"You. We need to talk."

* * *

As the militants discussed the details of their mission, Gray and Major Laxus faced one another in the kitchen where they could be heard, but no one cared about their conversation. Natsu had questions for them about Ondrej, and the only person who bothered to answer him was Loke.

The meeting was intense and lots of things struggled to penetrate his brain. He got the part about the pressure magnificator and him retrieving his research, which lifted his mood because the day kept progressing in the worst way.

"Don't grin stupidly when you're ignorant to what you dragged yourself into."

Gray leaned back on the counter and shrugged, "Look. No offense, but It's my research and-".

"You think you're doing a simple research? No. You're not. I don't think you understand, but I have just covered your ass by pulling you away from it and was processing the papers in a way that shows you never touched the **damn** thing."

"Make me understand! Because until now, I haven't seen that you're trying to help." That idiot Major won't rob him his joy of having his work back.

Laxus used a sharp tone, "I thought your brain was smart enough."

Gray shifted his weight on the other foot and caged a frustrated sigh. What did this guy want from him?

"Do you want to be followed everywhere? Do you want to be targeted by criminals? Your healthy civilian life will transform to paranoia and limitless stress. That's not all. You might be asked to give up your profession and work waiter, receptionist, other bullshit, why? Because today we have a director that understands the situation, but tomorrow, when he's gone, another one comes in and the council views you as a potential threat and ties up those skilled hands behind your back."

The heavy rain thumps amplified and echoed in Gray's ears.

"I'm not a villain, _Gray_."

Fuck, the guy has a valid point. Admittedly, Gray hasn't contemplated in depth about the matter.

"And Gildarts Clive?" The Major raised an eye-brow, "He got you battered with two severe shots. I've viewed the medical reports, you could've died."

Gray's neck stiffened.

"-Look. He asked, I answered, that's all. I'm against the idea, and it's NOT an idea, just a thought, and it was a fact, and I said it won't work."

"You don't know the General." Laxus pointed an accusing finger with irritation, "You're a kid. A thought for him is a possibility. You want to be in the same room with a criminal who shot you twice? Who kidnapped your friend?"

"-I-"

"-treasure your life. Look forward when this is all over, don't clip your own wings, no one does that. That thing isn't a toy. You wanna invent, you wanna be creative? Do it elsewhere, with something else. Keyword: _not_ a weapon."

Gray was in a quandary. Laxus Dreyar… Someone who liked to exercise his authority and power? Or someone who's in control and has an excellent overview of the predicament?

"I'm gonna be on your side. I'll fight it, but pray to God they don't come with the wrong decision."

Laxus left him with a ton of things to reconsider. The problem was that Gray loved his research and work too much to care about the side-effects. It's not every day that he gets his hands on something that magnificent, but if his career ends because of it, then is it worth it?

 _'Shit.'_

He observed the grey scenery outside and bit his lower lip. Now what? And Gildarts? Was Hibiki Lates mad enough to involve the guy?

 _'No fucking way. Forget it.'_

"Gray."

A sweltering bubble aroused in Gray who puffed out his chest and dropped the coffee mug into the sink, walking out on Natsu who followed. The pink haired coughed and persisted.

"We need to talk."

 _'Too late for that.'_

If it was up to Gray, he would leave the house, but because of the rain and the house-arrest, he couldn't prevent the boy from following him around. The chase ended in the foyer where Gray stood facing the entrance door.

"Gildarts Clive?"

How many people should ask him this question?

"After all what that monster did?!"

Gray put one hand on his waist and for the first time is the last few hours, an eye-contact was established with the person he didn't know anymore.

"Amazing. Super. So I can't bring in the guy who acted out of fear, but you can bring in the guy who's a criminal and a well-known narcotics businessman? The way you think is beyond me."

Natsu's throat choked a growl, and when he opened his mouth to speak, Gray didn't let him.

"Do you know the reason we're in this situation to begin with?"

"Wha-"

"-because of your boyfriend."

Natsu forced a chuckle, "-So you're-god this is amazing. You're not blaming that monster at all?"

"Ondrej, the guy YOU went to talk to behind my back, is where it all started, you try denying that. Try! I'm ready to punch you senseless."

Natsu rubbed his tired face and both his hands were air-chopping.

"I needed _answers_. We were close for almost two years—fuck! Imagine after years of friendship, people come to me and claim you're a fucking drug dealer... I'll need some answers from you no matter what, ok? I can't leave it! Imagine a relationship and marriage is involved! I'll doubt them even if they have all the proof in the world! I—I needed to know for myself! I give my friends that much credit!"

The pink haired boy's excuse ticked him off. Natsu was a sucker when friends and family were involved. No one puts so much faith in the people close to them more than Natsu does, which led this time to too many complications.

"These stupid phones we've got have international calls ban. I had to do it from one phone they have. First… it was my best friend, father… then it was my lover. I'm so betrayed. I needed Ondrej to deny it so I'd keep what's left of my sanity. All of my trust… the people close to me has failed me again and again-"

"-I was different-"

"-how the hell was I supposed to know you were different? How? You put yourself in my shoes and tell me! I can't read brains, I wish I could! But no, I was left to think you hated my guts, and there was no worse feeling than that. You brought me to the bottom of the bottom." Natsu's breath hitched as he conveyed his point.

Why must all the wrong people have valid points that damn day? Logically, Natsu was correct, but Gray remained in a state of madness. Ondrej's name stuck a dagger and sunk it further in his bleeding chest. When 'lover' was mentioned, his hands itched to press on Natsu's neck and-to sum up, lots of homicidal ideas.

His eyes targeted the ceiling while a bubble of negative emotions arose and pressed onto his throat.

"I'm sorry. I know how your… research is valuable to you."

Natsu's eyes were dead as he explained his behavior. They died even when he fumed, and Gray has recognized that look. It was a dreadful sign, and he wondered how he failed to notice them because they were dying gradually since they came to the Pegasus military base.

How dense was he? Did he expect no side effects on his friend with each revelation? Without fractures in Natsu's soul? Hell, no one wants to be Natsu, because the current Natsu doesn't know what or who to trust. He continues to lose his faith in the people around him and is a walking hollow shell.

The current Natsu needs to be rescued and healed before he shatters into pieces. And Gray didn't trust himself to be the person who does it. He 'betrayed' Natsu once.

"You think my research is the only thing I care about?"

Natsu muffled a cough and breathed, "Umm-"

"What else do I need to know?" Gray's tone was far from kind. "What else have you done besides calling the guy and causing this nuisance?"

"… what-"

"I need to know. You can't continue doing this. I keep hearing about your misdeeds from other people and it's pushing on every nerve… tell me everything, and I mean everything. Come clean to me, alright? No more surprises, because I hate all of them so far. So just give it all at once, I swear I won't commit murder, yet."

"-I could punch you right now."

"Now."

"Nothing! And that was two days ago or something."

"You told me you took something from Gajeel's office that was confiscated. What was that?"

His statement ruffled his friend's feathers and got his muscles tensed.

"That was…" Natsu coughed, and stammered, "That was nothing… It's personal."

"-Like a vibrator-personal?"

"-N-No-"

"-Like a dildo-personal?"

"-Fuck-"

"-Nothing's personal at this point. You're gonna show me, or I'll go report you myself."

A baffled expression showed up on Natsu, "You will do what?"

"You heard me."

"You jerk!" Natsu's palms pushed Gray's chest with all the power he could master, "What's wrong with you?!"

"I'm paranoid." Gray tripped back a step and yelled, "Guess whose fault that is?!"

"I told you there's nothing!"

"Oh, I believe you."

"I don't have to prove anything to you!" Natsu's shoulders trembled.

"Should I go tell the Major about this? I'm sure you'll be questioned thoroughly and nicely. And in the end, he'll make you sign on relinquishing all your rights as a human being."

Natsu attempted to speak, but Gray gave him a look that says, _'Don't. fucking. Mess. With. me.'_

"Don't." Gray threatened, "Not today."

"You're threatening me? First, you say that monster is innocent, and now you're threatening me? Why don't you shoot me?!"

"I would. They confiscated our weapons." Confidence dripped with each word that made Natsu speechless for seconds.

"Guys. Enough. Are you reenacting high school days or something?"

Gray's pulse sped faster and Loke's interception to their brawl fueled the heat burning in his gut. Fighting with Natsu is a prime part of their relationship, so stay the hell out of it.

"Back off." Gray warned the blonde.

"Yeah, Loke. Hand over your gun to Gray then back off and let's see how he shoots."

Gray walked into Natsu's personal space, glaring down on him, "So now, getting the truth out, means shooting you? I'm glad you admitted it."

"I fucking told you there's nothing!"

There was a chanting in Gray's head _'He's sick. He's very sick.'_ , and it prevented him from responding to Natsu's physical violence earlier. This time though, no, no, _no_. When Natsu slammed on his chest _again_ , a fuse burned in his brain. Anyways, he needed to beat Natsu up the minute he heard about his sneaking, so FUCK it.

Their hands clutched at each other's arms as they tried to reach for a punch. Natsu twirled fast, and tugged Gray's arm over his shoulder with a vice's grip, pushing Gray's entire weight forward to tumble him. Because Gray's weight was no joke, and Natsu wasn't at his best, several heavy pants broke before the boy growled and pushed forward anyway.

"GUYS!"

None paid attention to the blonde, and Gray couldn't let himself be pulled forward and tumble like a sack of potatoes so he used the rear neck choke on Natsu as a counter to the boy's evil intention.

"Bastard!" Gray yelled over, "I've had enough of your bullshit!"

Natsu's hold on his arm resembled a clamp as his face burst with red. He wrestled his way out of Gray's grip on his neck as he retreated _fast_ to slam Gray's back on the entrance door. His back jerked from the slight pain, and with a growl, Natsu used the full strength of his elbow on Gray's torso.

It hurt as if he had a broken rib, but he couldn't stay in pain for a long time—and before Natsu uses the pain-feeling seconds for his advantage and come back, Loke grabbed the pink haired's arm and shoved him off of Gray, then stood in the middle.

Coughing and swallowing because of Gray's earlier neck choke, Natsu was out of breath, "Out-of-umph! Back off!"

Loke stopped Natsu's advance with his hold, but he wasn't rough, "Calm down, that's-"

Gray launched again at Natsu, and Loke was in the middle, stopping each from reaching out and eye-gouging each other.

A weight of ten tons toppled on his, Loke's, and Natsu's head.

"Fools!" Erza shouted, "You call yourselves friends?! And you're choosing to fight in the middle of a crisis?!"

An indent formed on the top of his head that he-swear to god-resembled a flat-fish. The extension of her punch reached his eyes that bugged out and radiated in his face bones. FUCK, FUCK. Never mess with female ex-militants. That's why Eve and Ren advised against relationships with militants-fuck, that was a hell of a friendly advice.

The three guys crouched on the floor, wincing and holding their heads with both hands.

"Why me?!" Tears welled up in Loke's eyes.

"You weren't serious about stopping them!"

Big almighty Sergeant Loke dared not to argue and settled for groaning. When he did, her glare intensified at the _people_ who fought.

"I can't believe that you're lifelong friends. If I witness a charade like this once again!" Her aura was demonic and red.

"Y-yes Ma'am."

That was Natsu.

Shit. Next time, he won't judge the book by its cover. He thought she was cute few days back.

"Y-Yes… Ma'am." Gray repeated.

When she walked away, they all breathed.

"Fuck. Natsu..." Loke wrapped an arm around his 'life-long friend', "Sit. Come on, inside, sit."

Gray rubbed his flat-fish head as his friend disappeared with Loke in the living room. When he reviewed their fight earlier, he was thankful they didn't break valuable items in Hibiki's unit, and meh, could've been worse. If Loke hadn't interfered, they would've gone to the next level.

Taekwondo, their old best friend from high school days.

Erza, Sergeant Loke, and Sergeant Sting observed Natsu with intense silence. His nose and ears matched his hair's pinkish color, his lungs strived to breathe without obstruction, but the couple of coughs blocked the way.

 **Not** his problem. He explained earlier that Natsu needed a doctor, and they took his words, crumbled it, and to the trash it went. If he dies, it's their responsibility, not his.

 _'He has been always your responsibility before anyone else's.'_

He tried hard shoving the sound in the back of his head, but he was already thinking of how to shove Natsu in the Jeep outside and run away from the house-arrest to see a doctor and consequences be damned.

"Back to work." The Major ordered and tapped on his keyboard.

"But, Major-"

Heavy knocks interrupted Sergeant Sting's beginning of a protest. The Militants questioned with their eyes the identity of the visitor, grabbing their hand guns as if it is a second nature to humans.

"Backup teams." Laxus resumed typing, "Question is, which one?"

Loke took the initiative to let the back-up team in.

"Sergeant."

"We thought you were the nasty guys." Loke faked a relieved expression.

"Nasty guys? Last I checked, they don't knock."

"Guys … come on. There was this awkward silence and then you guys startled the shit of us."

"You can't be startled yet. We have a surprise. Where's the Major?"

"Boss!" Loke called, "She's asking for you."

The Major headed for the entrance where two female officers and one bulky male stood. The three of them bowed and saluted the Major with a straight posture.

"Come in." Laxus ushered them inside.

"Will do… but ah… he's with us. We thought we should warn you first." The female with the snowy white hair rubbed the back of her head.

"Him?" Laxus questioned.

The bulky tanned male cleared the view by moving and revealed a 180 centimeters plus guy.

Gray's previous injuries in his leg and shoulder reopened holes that pounded pain throughout his body.

 _'You gotta be shitting…'_

The pitter-patter of raindrops on the paving, the two steps leading up to their unit, and on the shoulders of that demon deafened Gray's ears that filtered anything else out. _Goddamn._ His organs shut down one by one after a thick layer of cold engulfed them and his feet super glued themselves to the ground, seizing his movement, much like what his lungs has done for his breath.

"Oh God… No God… No... God…"

Natsu swung as he stood, his face whitened. Without doubt, he was having a mini-heart attack. At that point, the situation concerned Gray because fuck, he has been working for that man for about three years, but in reality, he knew (blank) about him.

Laxus pointed the gun's hard hole to the man's forehead.

"What is he doing out?"

"Oi Oi!" The criminal raised both of his hands, "They didn't say I was gonna be slain here!"

"Shut up." Laxus' finger struggled not to shoot.

"Don't be like that…" The man provoked indirectly, "Gray wanted _my help_. Right?"

Gildarts Clive, a man who endangers other's lives and an impeccable businessman, with a fortune for a technical background.

No, Gray fancied not meeting him.

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** Next week, Wednesday 13th May.

GUYS, apologies for the late update. Work has been a lot more hectic and frustrating lately. I'm (Hopefully) trying to commit to updating more often, and my beta reader is the most amazing guy. He's always there, and his work impresses me every time, thanks bro.

Aside from that, Readers all around the world, stay safe, stay home. I know staying home isn't as simple as it sounds since it affects families in an unprecedented way, but what's the alternative? Hopefully this disaster ends soon.

 **Special thanks to:** deboome (Aye... all of the readers I believe hehe. But hopefully the explanation counts?), JO (I know. I know. This chapter cleared it up? Have fun!), mdelpin (OMG! You can't believe how busy I'm. I have so much work that I'm literally not breathing. We've just finalized our submission a week ago, and the after effects are still there... hopefully, i can get back on track, watch the stuff i wanna watch, read the stories i wanna read, etc. I hope you're staying safe in this difficult time...).

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that. AND stay safe, stay home.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	18. Chapter 18

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** E **i** g **h** t **e** e **n O.** o **.O**

* * *

A massive headache seared into Gray's skull (Something that's happening a lot). He wished the invisibility cloak from Harry Potter was an actual thing. Gildarts Clive's/Demon-debut aroused many controversial conversations, and if he uttered a word, he was so damn sure the militants and Natsu won't grant him a peaceful death.

"Not a minute. NO. God, outta my way!"

"WTF General?! Yeah you heard me, mother-fucking bitch! Director my ass! Is he so old that he lost all his senses? If so, where are yours?!"

"The fuck are they out of their mind?!"

"I gave Gray the weapon, and Hibiki is giving him the means, I guess that gets me out of trouble."

"Nee-chan, I knew this was a terrible idea…"

"For the record, it's not our fault, right? Like we only contributed in transporting the marvellous man. And the orders came from the higher-ups."

"Madness. Hibiki is outta his mind, I'm telling you. He won't surprise me if he sent out more criminals for backup. Did you verify if the ones coming are OUR people?"

"Natsu… Natsu wait!"

"Honestly, I don't know Erza. He showed up super dressed like he always does and goes: escort this man to Unit 8. I didn't know, alright? Why would I question him? I thought, Hibiki Lates knows what he's doing."

"Fucker, do you realize what you've done?"

"Blondie, when is my team coming? Forget Ondrej, I wanna take them and fucking apprehend Hibiki."

Natsu Dragneel wanted out. An immediate exit. He pushed and shoved around Sergeant Loke who blocked his way at the door, and their argument lasted over 30 minutes of Gildarts's arrival. Sergeant Loke refused, manhandling Natsu with his military strength, not when Natsu was as sick as a dog and spiking a merciless fever.

The criminal addressed, sat handcuffed and was threatened with losing one of his organs or eyes if he tried scratching behind his ears or ass, with Sergeant Sting Eucliffe by his side, ensuring that he's comfortable in his new cell.

A massive CRACK of thunder echoed… three times in a row, encouraging his heart to jump out of its place. Laxus Dreyar had his gun pointed up from a window. It hushed everyone.

"I swear to GOD… PEOPLE. Are we in a high school? What's the matter, Sergeant? Can't drag him inside?!"

"I'm not staying where this monster is! To hell with all of you!" Natsu huffed pants within Loke's arms that tightened around his feverish frame.

"Ouch, that hurts." Gildarts commented, eyes shut and with two of his fingers brushing his forehead to demonstrate the fake amount of hurt.

"HE TRIED ABDUCTING ME! TWICE! HE SHOT MY FRIEND TWICE! SHOULD I LET IT HAPPEN A THIRD TIME BEFORE YOU ALL ARE SATISFIED? I WON'T BREATHE THE SAME AIR HE DOES! NO FUCKING WAY!"

Another thunder CRACK echoed, drilling everyone's eardrums. Natsu made a little shrieking sound as he flinched in Loke's hold.

"Here's what will happen." Laxus commanded, "You're gonna get inside this instant and wait until the military's doctor arrives. Gildarts Clive will be under **my** surveillance, and I swear on my honor that I'll protect everyone in this room, including you, from his harm. Meanwhile-"

The doorbell interrupted Laxus, and Erza was the one who reached out to reveal the second batch of the back-up teams.

"Good-" Laxus stiffened for a good minute before his tone commanded once more. Something or someone of the new-coming team affected him… god only knows what more surprises they were getting tonight. If Laxus Dreyar was affected, then what the _bloody hell_ did that mean?

"Excellent. I don't have to repeat since we've nearly everyone. Technical support! You can have the extra room upstairs if needed. Lieutenant Freed's division is independent. I promised Hibiki I won't interfere with you people, but I'll be overlooking the overall process. You two will be in the study room, working on the General's demands, LIKE IT OR NOT. Also, you are to estimate the time frame and materials you'd need for this mission-"

One guy _dared_ to intercept the Major's directions. He had a green short, Mohawk hairstyle, and a mole underneath his left eye. In contrast to Laxus's attitude that stiffened air particles around humans, this guy calmed it with his creamy voice, and softer look (That wasn't demeaning like Laxus's).

"-If I may. I'm Lieutenant Freed Justine. I'd like to say that sending Gildarts Clive here was an extensive discussion in our headquarters and it was well-studied." Lieutenant Freed explained, regarding everyone in the room with a small smile, "Myself, Hibiki Lates, and several others have seen the capability of the weapon which this good man here is customizing, and I facilitated things so it's possible to have Gildarts Clive on board."

"Lieutenant-" Laxus started with a clenched jaw and a death grip over his gun, "You _facilitated_ it-"

"-this man has ten nano-chips inside of his body in several locations which, if he acted up in an interesting way or God forbid, the other, he would cause himself paralysis. In other words, I made sure he'll be good so worrying about his intentions is a waste of time and energy. We have bigger problems at hand, so please give us your full cooperation."

"We-" The Major almost barked.

"-and the doctor's here. Who's the patient again? Oh, that one."

"Natsu, let's go inside." Loke coaxed the boy and pushed him.

"No! That's unfair, NO!" Natsu pushed back.

Lieutenant Freed Justine walked up to Natsu and Loke let go of the pink-haired boy's hand when his superior officer gave a commanding look.

"It's ok. The world isn't fair, it's cruel, it's life. And sometimes, we have to live with it. Remember, you started it, and you're given a chance to right your wrong by choosing to oblige and accept the assets we offer. If you leave, you'll be running away from the mess you created. A poor choice, I believe."

"…" Despite of the wane in Natsu's health, he collected every ounce of hatred in his cells and stabbed Gildarts with it in a shape of fire blasts.

That Lieutenant, how manipulative was he?

* * *

"You with me kiddo?"

Fucking piece of **shit**.

"First off, if you want to experience paralysis and uncontrollable pissing, shitting, and drooling all over yourself, you'll call me that one more time."

"Cooooool." Gildarts chuckled, "Where did your innocence disappear? I like you that way now."

"If you provoked or did as much as touching a hair on Natsu's head, I'll fuck you up with those two hands before they could cause you paralysis."

"-My my, so defensive over-"

"-I'm setting the rules here and **now**. If you don't comply, the whole Justice chamber of Japan can kiss my ass when I call this deal off. Rule number three, don't fucking go anywhere near Natsu. Show as less of yourself as possible, am I understood?"

Fucker. His calm demeanor made Gray's fist itch to strike one punch that would fracture his stupid skull. As if sensing Gray's ill intentions, the man crossed his legs and nodded, agreeing to Gray's terms.

So Hibiki thought Gildarts Clive didn't intimidate Gray as much as he did to Natsu? He abducted Natsu twice, but he shot Gray. He _SHOT_ him. Those injuries that were a few inches to recovery throbbed fast and gave him a false sense of pain with Gildarts's presence three meters away.

He even puffed his chest, stiffened his tone, and did everything he could to hide the fact that his hands were shaking.

"Let's get to business."

"Yes, I believe that's better." Gildarts lips cracked a smile, "Honestly, the information I have is insufficient and I'm looking forward to learning more about my role."

Gray adjusted his safety glasses and his seating on the leather armchair of the study room. He sighed, irritated, uncomfortable, and irritated. This-this mother-fucking—he should've thought a hundred million times before his mouth so carelessly utters the name "FUCK".

Why Hibiki? Huh? Why?

The rumbles in the sky outside continued as both parties stared at each other, one calmer than he should, and one wishing his cold blue eyes could freeze and shatter the other's.

"Look." Gray intertwined his fingers over his crossed leg, "I don't have a clear idea either. However. There's a special weap- _device_ that you and I need to develop. We need to bring out its maximum capability to help the teams, or not. I'm sure you're aware they're luring Ondrej here to take him down."

"Interesting." An unfazed expression hid Gildarts's inner thoughts, "So I get a chance de-balling the fucker. Fantastic."

"You don't get to de-ball anyone, alright? Calm your shit down. We're testing this prototype, that's all there's to it."

"My information says that Ondrej thinks Natsu Dragneel is abducted by me."

Wow. "What? Hibiki said that he's a threat to Natsu… at some point."

"That's bogus. Won't be for long if Ondrej finds out Natsu is cooperating with the guys who want his fatty drugged up ass."

"I wanna ask…" The guy has shot Gray's ass twice, and it is weird he still wanted to ask him questions without strangling him first, "This Ondrej character… how is he like? I got the unicorny version of him because Natsu's the source, if you know what I'm saying."

"How much are you willing to pay for it?"

"Too much. How about your life? Fuck you."

"Ki-Gray, Gray, Gray. Don't be so serious." Gildarts' faked a nervous laugh, then pursed his lips for a good minute. "When they told me your friend did the whole play-with-the-wang shit, I gotta tell you, I was flabbergasted that that man has let Natsu touch his wang."

"…"

"Homophobia isn't my problem. Ondrej doesn't have… feelings... or human blood. These principled people planted nano-chips in my body… he chops people's limbs like he's cutting vegetables for his sandwich. His work/drugs are significant to him, and if your friend had tried to oppose him by something as much as words, his corpse would've been floating somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Or maybe buried in one of the mines he worked at."

Gildarts leaned to the front and continued, "Have you ever asked your friend about the dynamics of their relationship?"

"… No." For what joy?

"Ask him then. Most likely it involved abuse. If not, something worse, cause you know, I can't wrap my head around the idea that a beast can love."

"Well… for every beast-"

"—Disney wonderland doesn't exist, we're living reality." Gildarts dismissed Gray's comment by a wave of his hand.

"Like… anything can happen, that's what I learned so far."

The criminal refused to answer; instead, he shot Gray a look of disrespect.

"On with work."

Gildarts crossed his legs. "If the weapon is magnificent, then why do we mess with it?"

Shit. He shouldn't have slipped and said irresponsible shit.

 _'Really? Of course they told him.'_

"Problems. Technical ones. For starters, it's fucking heavy, it's hard to navigate, and it has to be at a certain distance of the target, etcetera. Also, functions and programming, and embedding this idea in my head into the whole system… It's hard."

"Tricky." Gildarts said, "I got a solution to the heaviness... Just came to me now."

Hoooo. Smartass. "What do you have in mind?"

"Drones." Gildarts pointed out, "Griff 800, or something like that."

Humans have developed several fields like agriculture, architecture, shoes, and shoelaces. Drones loitered around for years, and Gray's concerns for other technicalities blocked his creative side—or giving birth to practical solutions, plus, he expected Vance to serve as a study material… warfare purposes? That's overwhelming.

"Drones." Did he sound lost?

"Drones. Griff 800 series." Gildarts confirmed.

A little laugh echoed. Ladies and gentlemen, Gildarts Clive. Gray has an unhealthy admiration for the man's brain and personality as a manager, even though he posed as a role model for villains.

He grants the tools and assets nicknames like Gray—now THAT calls for applause.

"We'll… have a chat with the Major."

"You wanna ask me something else?" His ex-manager asked.

"Hexadecimals and shit, I-"

"-You suck."

Gray raised his hand to emphasize Gildarts's point, though it kicked his pride in the ass, "Exactly."

"Oh god." Gildarts grunted, "Kiddo, listen up. My stuff is in here," he patted a giant handbag on the floor next to his foot, "We have work to do. Shall we?"

"After you."

 _Boss._

It was such a great shame that an abductor like Gildarts Clive is made of genius. Before the whole incident blows, Gray has always respected him for his brains and for the many times he stood by Gray's side in the working environment.

"Gray, one more thing." Gildarts stood holding his bag, "I know what I did to you. I know it can't be forgiven, but you need to know I had a daughter to protect. I couldn't let him steal life's meaning from me."

"-life to you-"

"-I'm sorry. That's all I'm trying to say."

Pardon? This-this man. He thinks a 'sorry' would make Gray forget how humiliated he was? How the dirt of earth tasted in his mouth? How sharp were the needles coated with pain prickling all over? How his face was covered in tears? It's so good he came out of this incident _mentally_ stable.

 _'Don't make me laugh, old man.'_

He wanted to hold his ex-managing director by the collar and beat him till he forgets his name, but chose to grunt and put his hands in his pockets.

"Doesn't mean anything to me. Unless it's about work, I don't wanna hear bullshit. And when we're done from this, I hope we don't cross paths again."

* * *

Prostitution.

Across the years, people viewed prostitution as an overstepping dangerous phenomena that ruined lots of families, not to mention morals.

THE People, soldiers, or whatever, filled their house, which turned out pretty similar to a special campus of sorts with the last team's arrival. Gray tried calm. Tried cool. Maintenance of calm and cool proved difficult when one of the newcomers (a.k.a the fucker) used his Coffee mug to drink instant soup.

The mug, HIS mug was for Coffee, not for soup. Coffee, not soup.

Hence the prostitution phenomena.

If the dipshit had used his mug for tea, hot chocolate, or heck, hot milk, that's a different talk there. Excuse me, does he have to bear with this until someone uses his toothbrush? Allowing his belongings to be open for prostitution won't HAPPEN. He can fuck with them as much as he wants, but others?

He wasn't particular about anything. In fact, that's how every individual _should feel_ about their stuff.

Gray crashed against someone. His long raging strides, and the pillows and blankets he carried blocked his vision and caused this unfortunate mini-incident.

"My bad." He apologized, taking the hand of the dazzling brunette soldier and pushed upwards, "My bad."

Her mouth opened, sagging, and her glasses drooped. Was that offending in the army world or the police? "Something… wrong?"

"No… no, no." A dangerous gleam shone in her eyes. She moved closer and put her soft hand on his exposed chest, "You… have... How'd you get those?"

Jeepers creepers. Oy.

"Would you… like to impress me… help me see more of it tonight in my tactical Van?"

Her fingers loosened the top of her uniform, exposing the fair skin of her chest that begged to be caressed. His eyes travelled, following its trail that led down to the big, low, and full pair of breasts.

The difficulty of decision making exceeded the norm because: one, what's the meaning of rejecting a female soldier? Will he get punished?… spanking and bondage, maybe? Two, If she got rejected, wouldn't it be awkward since they're staying together—and three… look at those… perfect melons…

"… Ah." He held her hand and guided it away from his abs, "Kinda tired… and busy so-"

"—Oh no no, I understand. Shameful me." If she'd looked like the part, he would've believed her, "Keep those naked around… I like it. And if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"Ah…" Gray shivered when a heated gaze seared into his back (not the lustful gaze of the four eyed girl). Pinpointing the source wasted his time, so Gray shrugged it off, "I'll take that as a compliment. Thanks."

Good to know a free bitch was around. Where the fuck was his shirt?

Gray saved himself the search and ran upstairs to get a fresh one, which he immediately wore and insured that it won't come off.

Jeepers. Jeepers. Jeepers.

The three teams occupied the upper level of Unit 8, some of them occupied part of the ground floor. The sleeping arrangement was messed up. Gildarts slept in one van parked outside so he's far from any kind of intelligence (laptops, phones).

The teams acquired the right to sleep on the upper floor in shifts.

Gray's sleeping arrangement implied sleeping on the L-shaped sofa on the ground floor… with Natsu Dragneel whom he shunned since the glorious fight.

Natsu tossed the sheet and kicked the sofa so it's aligned with what the fuck ever he thinks it should be aligned with (Ondrej's asshole position probably).

A pillow flew and hit his arm.

 _Here we go._

Natsu snatched one pillow from Gray's hand and tossed it on his part of the sofa. Gray stood, his teeth gritted and his hand fast to grab the nearest solid object (his alarm clock), which he aimed at Natsu's back of the head.

"You take what's yours and fuck off from here!" Natsu shouted and rubbed the back of his head.

"Impossible son of a bitch." Gray snatched his beddings and stormed off to the study room. Good to know his instincts work. He foresaw a fight the minute he was designated to sleep there.

Gray watched the non-stop heavy pour and worked on calming his raging breaths. Natsu's had no right, he just didn't! He rubbed his hair, fingers digging deep till it reached his scalp. That's _it._ Sick or not, that bastard needed to be taught a lesson and no one on this earth was stopping Gray from taking that initiative.

He strode out of the study room and targeted Natsu, who still rubbed his head where Gray hit him with the clock. Gray sunk his fingers into Natsu's arm and pressed on his bones as he gritted his teeth and dragged the dumbfounded pink haired towards the study room.

"Fuck—!" Natsu didn't allow himself to be dragged. He snatched his arm, his right eye shut from the sting there. "Want your death date closer? Shit…"

He's so not having it. After shrugging, Gray carried him fireman-style, striding to the study room before Natsu had the chance to think or yelp.

"Haa!" Natsu's breath hitched.

He kicked the Study room's heavy wooden door to a close, and tossed the weight off his back on the sofa, both panting.

"Damn… heavy… asshole…" Gray breathed.

Natsu's back laid flat on the couch, the dark blue cardigan slid off his left shoulder. Staring at the ceiling in disbelief, his cheeks burned and his breaths came accompanied with two coughs ripping through his lungs on the way out. His narrowed eyes shifted from the recessed ceiling to Gray, scratching through his skin with the best glare they could master.

He dared him to do one more offense. As if he gave a _shit_.

"You've decided to go to the hospital tonight." Natsu hissed as he supported himself and lunged forward. Gray rooted his feet to the floor, both of his hands meeting Natsu's fists with determination. Fucker, where does his strength come from? He was sick with a fever that could fry eggs to perfection.

"You started it."

"You… deserved it!"

"Come on, what's this all about, huh? Come on!" Gray barked.

"Of course you don't know!" Natsu pushed against Gray's grip and verbal attack, "Like you haven't welcomed a damned psychopath here! Where we live!"

"Oh yeah?!" Y'all should scoff at that, "Yeah? And who the fuck is bringing the other one? I hope you didn't call and warn your beloved husband."

"Fuck you!" They both stood strong, shooting down the idea of losing to one another after they banged their heads. Then Natsu drove Gray up the wall fast, "I didn't even know what I was doing! But you?! You freaking asked for him to come! How—how could you do that to me?! Tell me how!"

Gray gathered his genuine strength and pushed Natsu forward, floundering him across, and breaking their violent physical contact that reddened his palms and showcased their veins.

They took seconds to pant and exchange threatening glares. "You scared, coward?"

Natsu's breaths hitched, chin trembling. Yes, Natsu deserved a beating, but the look that he pinned Gray with forced him to swallow the full list of insults he wanted to rain down on his friend.

"Yeah." The glare creasing Natsu's face earlier faltered and his trembling chin obstructed speaking, "I'm scared. And you bet I'm a c-coward. I hope you're s-satisfied with your decision. You know, to bring him over and get back at me for making an honest-to-god mistake-"

"-Fuck, I **didn't**!" What was wrong with everyone?! Why is he to be blamed over and over for this? Among all the people, Natsu should've understood that! Why is he called a _friend_ again? His defensive tone heightened, as the blood flooded his brain, "I'd never get back at you this way, and you know that! It was just a thought he was talented! I never said oh _I need him_ , or _bring him_ over because I wanna fuck Natsu over-"

Natsu moved closer, not with violent intentions, but for emphasizing his point, "-look at you. Always acting like the perfect smartass, but you're not!"

They were in each other's space, each smelling the other's frustration, expecting a blow and putting up their guards.

"You think I'm scared for myself asshole?!" Natsu pointed at himself and huffed a bitter chuckle, "Do you know who matters to me the most? The one who can make or break me? You and YOU. How many times do I need to say it?!" Natsu's chin trembled more, and tears welled up in his eyes, "Gray! I can't leave you with him for a minute! He almost killed you in cold blood in front of me! I wouldn't let him take you from me—you-you wait and watch! If I've to strangle the motherfucker in his sleep with my bare hands, I WILL!"

 _'Holy… fuck!'_

That. Right there, _that_. It always happens. Gray was always focused on his narrow point of view and never spared Natsu's a glance. It was always easier to dump accusations on his friend than understanding or showing patience with him. In contrast, Natsu thought the _world_ of him.

He wished he was under the cold rapid-falling raindrops outside to quench the heat and passion of Natsu's words that burned throughout and jellied his limbs. It was funny. He thought he was _obsessed_ with Natsu, with his unspoken deep care for him, but moments like these highlighted Natsu's obsession with _him_. That it wasn't his wishful thinking or imagination.

That raw fondness of him was _there_. In each chest-jab, insult, shout, and in those tears that fought so badly to fall. Goddammit, it radiated in Natsu's bones and figure in front of him.

Natsu sniffed and walked past him. Yeah, _right_. He urged himself to snap out of his dumbfounded self and raised an arm to block his best friend's way. That extended arm pushed Natsu towards him, and his fingers touched the cardigan's soft fabric covering Natsu's arm with care, unlike when he dug them in earlier.

"What… now?" Natsu's tone thickened, but didn't shake off Gray's hold. His body was limp and his tears broke.

Natsu made Gray one crazy son of a bitch. He made him angry, considerate, happy, then furious. Much to Gray's dismay, he disturbed his frozen sleepy emotions when they interacted, and converted them to spiraling storms of destruction with a hint of a fire spark.

Gray swallowed the huge cork in his throat. One arm has held Natsu's waist on him, his free hand wiped the warm stream of silent tears on the blazed cheeks, and from under his eyes. Shit, Gray was shaking and he had to stop, and be firm. The familiar tingling on his heart signaled for the old marking awakening.

Because Natsu was on him, and it needed to pull them apart, forbidding Gray from being swept by his friend's tear-wet lush lips.

This time, no matter how hard the curse tried jerking both bodies apart, it just couldn't.

Not when they both were in each other's breathing space, not when Natsu's hands cupped Gray's face and leaned even closer. His ears had blocked the rain, and as his nose inhaled the sea-breeze vanilla scent of Natsu, his mouth watered.

Not a second later, they pressed their lips on one another.

He tasted Natsu's salty tears, a painful reminder of the foolishness he had done. He imagined kissing his friend so many times with a passion that could burn rainforests, but never once did he imagine it'd be an apologetic act because words weren't enough.

It went both ways. When Natsu pressed his wet messy mouth on him, it was to say, 'I was a fool, don't be mad.'

Their presses were soft caresses, as gentle as it can be. It never showed the slightest hint of violence, but Gray's insides were all floating and shaking like an earthquake has hit him.

With one last peck, he pulled back and licked his lips.

"I'm…" He took a minute to collect himself at the sight of his kisses trail on Natsu's red lips and pomegranate cheeks, "… sorry."

Natsu swallowed and sobbed one time as Gray kissed his forehead and pulled him close.

"Don't think I'm happy about this—him being here… don't, okay?"

Natsu coughed then panted, hugging Gray as tight as he could, "We need to run—we can't go along with their crazy wishes, we have that right!-"

"-hey." Gray patted his friend's back to calm him down, "Nat. First, you need to get better. And, don't worry about him much, they have him under control. Let's-"

Natsu pulled far enough just to look at Gray's face, "You think I'd depend on anyone if it comes to your safety? Your life?!"

"You're crazy." Gray chuckled, wiping away more tears, "You should stop caring so much about me. It's gonna get you killed. I'll be fine—don't get me wrong. You have the right to worry yourself over this because even I'm stressed. It was tough talking to him and… I kept remembering and it's difficult. Guts tell me it's gonna be alright though."

"- _Guts telling you it's gonna be alright_ -are you fucking serious? Am I s-supposed to trust your guts now? Who's the c-crazy one here?"

Although Natsu nagging twisted his nerves, his concerns were valid, and _oh my god_ , he was so _adorable_ worrying sick over him. His baffled stare from Gray's statement was fixated on him waiting for an explanation and Gray's throat closed. He leaned and pressed his mouth onto the other's, this time, a little harder than before, just to calm him down as he pushed the back of Natsu's head forward.

Natsu's hands were quick on Gray's chest, with the purpose of pushing away, to stop fooling around and be serious about such a huge matter, but the groan he gave out in Gray's mouth destroyed his efforts at conveying that.

Just when Natsu's muscles relaxed in his hold and under his intimate touch, Gray broke the kiss, barely finding his voice to speak, "… remember when you thought Hibiki and Jellal were conspiring against us, and you wouldn't listen to me they're not? The same thing is happening now. You should trust _me_ more."

Natsu was all wide-eyed and red to the ears. His body froze in Gray's arms, it was a miracle he nodded, obedient.

Nice. If he knew the perks of kissing the idiot, he would've done it long back.

* * *

 _'Such a moron…'_

Natsu drifted to the world of dreams after his feet wobbled and consciousness disappeared from the fever. Luckily, Gray got him to the military's doctor in time (and who has blown the incident out of proportion). Erza Scarlet scrutinized them, suspicious that they may have fought again, but Loke interfered and cleared that misunderstanding.

 _'I'm a moron too.'_

It was better for Natsu to sleep in a place less cramped with people and quiet, thus, the current sleeping arrangement, in the study room, Natsu on the couch and Gray on the floor.

Gray promised himself a neck-ache and back-ache the day after. That fucker. Natsu wanted Gray to be as close to sight as possible, and that's the only reason he accepted taking the wooden floor as a bed for the night. A more honest side of Gray has revealed that although it was uncomfortable, Gray didn't mind having Natsu _want_ him there.

He sat next to the sleeping figure, fingers going through the moist pink hair.

 _'Will it ever stop?'_

He loved the sight of the rain washing down everything. Tonight, the rain was heavy pebbles that stroke the glass. But, serious? Two days in a row?

When Natsu stirred in his sleep with a scowl, Gray's hand brushes soothed his arm, and calmed him almost instantly.

 _'You don't understand me, you know. The reason you're not mine until now… What If I hurt you? When we're friends… anything can be fixed. But if we're together… it's not that simple. I'm so flawed you can't imagine…'_

Gray leaned over and kissed the crook of Natsu's neck.

 _'Anyway… too late to think now. You will suffer a lot and I'm sorry… but I can't do it anymore.'_

He stroke Natsu's soft cheek.

"I'm sorry… you're mine. No one else's. Just mine."

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** Next week, Wednesday 20th May.

 **Special thanks to:** deboome (He's been annoying me too cause I have to write him like that haha. Thank you so much, I hope you enjoyed this very special chapter.), Kori No Koibito (Heyyy. Broooo, I hope you're doing good. They fought, but it won't be their last fight! Its Natsu and Gray after all. Can't believe how I'm obssessed with them...).

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that. AND stay safe, stay home.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	19. Chapter 19

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content **(Especially this chapter, you can still go back if it doesn't suit your taste)**.

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** N **i** n **e** t **e** e **n O.** o **.O**

* * *

Unit 8 has transformed to an Oasis/beach resort when no one was looking.

Sergeant Sting Eucliffe, the Blondie who starred as a perfect statue (no smiles, no jokes, no physical contact, and just _no_ ) chatted like there was no tomorrow with his Natsu. His once dim azure eyes became sparkling sea water under the sun that was Natsu Dragneel.

Horaaay.

Meanwhile, Loke sat next to Natsu, with an arm draped over the pink haired's shoulder, as if marking his territory because Sergeant Sting was sweeping Natsu far, far, far away with his abundance of charm.

Cool.

What was her name? Lola? Lily? Whatthefuckever. "The other blonde-girl" laughed at Natsu's jokes, too easily, and ruffled his hair more than a time. Three times, and there, that's the FOURTH.

Fiona? Something like Laura or Lana?

A mind-electrifying fact: Major Laxus allowed the corner of his lips to crack and show a faint smile, and by the looks of it, he held himself back from socializing as he kept to himself in the corner, working on his reports. Why the fuck NOT Laxus? Why don't you chat with the lowly civilians?

Blonde, check (one), check (two), check (three), check (four). Fucking wait a minute… Was Ondrej… blonde?

Gray thought he had a rival (Sergeant Loke). Scratch that, he'll work with **three**.

Can he win this death match? Fuck.

When Sting laughed at something Natsu said, followed by cool Loke's hand pat on the head, and Leslie's snuggle with his cheek like he's a goddamn speaking stuffed toy… the hair of his body stood, thirsty for violence.

If Natsu was a stuffed toy, he would be _his_ stuffed toy. _No one_ plays with _his_ stuffed toys.

So they were having the time of their lives while he was stuck in a room with his ex-boss developing a deadly weapon… There's something wrong with that sentence. That's right… his sense of 'time of one's life' is severely injured.

People should be envious of HIM. He's the one doing the cool stuff, like he cares about the obvious sexual harassment happening in the living room.

"I didn't know Café de l'Ambre opened a branch in your kitchen." Sergeant Gajeel said with a wide smirk.

"Excuse me?" What the fuck was this _guy_ hinting at?

"Are you a coffee addict?"

 _'Why this prying little bitch…'_

"Sometimes… when I'm stressed… yeah." Gray had replied with a thin smile.

"You know, you could always walk over there and talk to Lucy. I'll tell you all the good stuff, make sure you lay a badass impression."

What the hell…?

Ok, although the girl's boobs impressed him, he didn't ogle, and why the fuck would he talk to her?!

"I… Not—that's—wait… You got this all wrong. I'm—not interested…"

"I could swear you're going back and forth for coffee just to see her. It's so high school, I remember how I used to stalk my crush… been there, done that."

This bastard won't give it a rest.

He heard a girly giggle. Being so curious to know where it came from, he spotted a young girl with a navy-blue hair drinking orange juice next to Major Laxus Dreyar.

Ok. He knows how this sounds. But she was the one who made Natsu's fever go down, and that was… extraordinary. Talent can get you anywhere. Even if you're five years old.

Upstairs resonated with enthusiasm. Lots of reasons contributed to that (Erza Scarlet's heated commands, or bangs on the table is the primary cause). Earlier in the day, she discussed air-raids possibilities during the rainy weather, and how to respond to it with the rest of the gang.

The pros and cons, the activation of the safety evacuation from the anti-blast unit for the people within the compound, and how it affects neighboring states which has close co-ordinates… when Gray barged in with **an emergency**.

All the faces in the room turned to stone serious; he left the dramatic pause and asked her to convince Major Laxus to take them out for lunch instead of eating the tuna sandwiches again.

She snapped the pencil in her hand, tossed it on the table, and threatened to put him on their next satellite heading to mars for the next ten years where he can enjoy science all he wants… that and to get the hell out.

Food IS crucial you know.

Work changes people, but it changes Erza a lot. It straightened her back, puffed out her chest, aroused her nose in the air, like a damn Persian Peacock. To sum up, she's violent and heartless and he doesn't like her anymore.

A queue of black vans parked outside Unit 8. One of them had Hibiki's team, along with lieutenant Freed Justine, who monitored the CCTV's in and around the base, in other words, they were on stake out. The compound assigned special people to do it, but Hibiki's team did it using a different protocol and it worked in Gray's favor, because the woman who molested him was with them.

"I'm gonna die…"

One of the female militants smacked Natsu. The others laughed as she checked his temperature.

"Your condition is improving. Stop being a brat."

* * *

Back at work, it went better than he imagined.

Gildarts communicated with Major Laxus and Hibiki online. They've requested five drones that could withstand the weight of Vance, and their arrival time estimated was the day after, or the same day, depending on the availability of the model.

Major Laxus Dreyar asked if Hibiki had acquired the weapon usage authorization, and Hibiki had rubbed the back of his head and laughed, telling them he was _working_ on it.

Also, his ex-managing director had contacted the manufacturing company of the weapon through Hibiki, requesting extra technical information on the machine, plus requesting more models of the same type. The phone call's duration was two hours (Gray involved, and typing notes). The outcome of the conversation was fruitful and erased a lot of vagueness for Gray.

"Shame." Gray said, stretching his body.

"You can't expect them to agree. Think about it. Two models are a miracle to have in two days."

"Yeah, but…" Satisfaction drowned his muscles, "What's the use of money if it can't be powerful. And we had such a bitch chat with Hibiki."

"Can't be helped." Gildarts checked the software readings, "They can't fabricate this intricate device overnight. God bless all our souls if it malfunctions. Speaking of malfunctions…"

"-Got it. Here." Gray clicked send, "Check your transfer file."

"Impressive… When did you…?"

"I had lots of free time…" Gray sipped from his coffee, and his eye-brow twitched when it stung him, "This was a source of entertainment."

"Nice. Wish I had a source like that in my confinement. Sadly, we can only play cards."

Gray froze. Gildarts typed on his keyboard as if he has just said he was at a boring park.

"…" Gray focused on the screen in front of him, "Serves you right."

The older man's lips arched to form a vague smile and brushed off his comment.

He reminded himself to erase that tight feeling in his gut, because that _asshole_ has fooled Gray, shot him, and stolen everything important to him. After the incident, his shoulder and leg had to undergo extreme shit physiotherapy for over three weeks before they moved into the base. Not to mention the drilling in his limbs that drove him to tears and the blood he had to see every day and in his dreams. He didn't deserve empathy.

Did he apologize? Oh, he did, but those bone-deep engravings of the man's violence lost Gray's trust in him. If those two shots didn't teach him a lesson, what will? He can't and won't do it all over. He won't trust this man, or allow himself to feel safe around him because as Natsu said, he **_is_** a monster.

Although Gray had put on a bold front and told Natsu to calm the fuck down and that it was ok and he was under control, Gildarts's tone froze his limbs for milliseconds before he could collect himself, his normal inquiring gaze shot his brain dead and he struggled to think before coming up with an answer.

God, shit. He needed to get out of there. At least, until he calms his demeanor.

The rain had stopped for three straight hours that day, but regardless of the weather's condition, he crossed out the 'Unit 8 exit' idea because of the temporary house-arrest. Instead, he went to the first floor to see the status of his room (Erza and her team).

The room was deserted. His bed hosted all their belongings, from mean-ass black cases to diet coke and water…. headphones, gun-cases that have no guns, laptops… But where's everybody?

Forget it.

Gray stared at the bed that he slept on the day before and thousands of ideas worked his mind. What If… he made a mistake? What if Gildarts Clive was developing this weapon with him to steal data? What If he blew up this house and then broke out? What if he kills people?

His hands shook, so he held the back of his head with them both to force them to stop.

Shit… fuck-shit, everyone's gonna die because of him. He had to tell them to send him back to jail. There was no other way.

His breath hitched at the faint creak of a door, that he whipped his head to expect the worst.

And that was when he ran out of oxygen.

* * *

Shit, dude. Shit.

Natsu emerged from the steamy bathroom, hand busy with moving the damp towel back on forth on his pink hair. Originally, Natsu is an athletic human being. He played in several clubs during high school, then boxing and Taekwondo continuation in university, plus his usual workout routine (which is brutal). What kind of body does that look like?

The shower's sparkling water drops cascaded on unrealistically carved abs and equally hardened core. Natsu's honeyed caramel skin glamour slapped him across the face, especially the hints on the thighs, knees, and legs, under the ripped faded jeans.

A loud siren bellowed in Gray's system.

"Hey… you ok?"

Natsu was unfazed. He asked with casual worry, like he wasn't the reason Gray was malfunctioning.

"I-ah…" He swallowed, and no matter how many times he did, his crackling-dry throat won't hurt less, "… break."

"Break?" Natsu shot him a puzzled stare. He flashed his armpit as the process of hair drying intensified.

Fucking hell. Natsu belonged with those models posing on those trashy magazines that everyone's mom likes to buy and read. But… This is different. He has seen lots of douchebags with ripped to hell bodies, and they were repulsive (from his own mom's magazines).

In Natsu's case, it wasn't the face, or the fuckable body. It was the uniqueness of the soul that baffled him. There was something dangerously cute about it.

"You sure you're okay?"

Natsu has used the rosemary and mint shampoo, the one in the white bottle with the green text, on the shelf-shit. Was he okay? As if a heated iron pressed against his skin, it scorched. In reality, it was just Natsu.

Gray pointed backwards, "Work break."

"Oh… I get it." Natsu huffed as his hair irritated him.

A snake-like pain crawled on chest as his protruded eyes couldn't grow more. Was this real? Was the pink hair real? That skin tone? That boy, was he real? _No_. He was an angel forced to disguise as a human being and live a humanly painful life.

It wasn't the first time Gray sees his friend half naked, yet, it petrified him. Especially now, when he knows, there's a possibility for _anything_.

When he picked up the rustling on the stairs, Gray's eyes **could** grow more. Something cold brushed up the back of his neck. Someone was coming. Someone was fucking coming. He allowed chatting and casual flirting in the living room with various motherfuckers, but allowing the motherfuckers to eye-fuck Natsu, was a big fat red underlined bold **NO**.

Gray jerked from his spot, shoved Natsu inside the bathroom, foot kicking the door to close.

"ffffffuck… yahii…"

Natsu's face twisted in pain, hand rubbing the side of his right leg. The small cabinets which existed underneath the bathroom's sink had rounded golden knobs, one of which Natsu's leg bumped against.

Gray's hands rested on the cold marble top, at either side of Natsu's figure as he focused on the noise outside.

 _'Don't…'_

"Oh _maaaan_." Natsu kneeled to pick up the soaked towel he once used to dry his hair, "Look what you've done, you idiot…"

Ok, they weren't coming. Shit, that was close.

"YO!" Natsu called, his foot stomping on the wet tiles, tone laced with frustration.

The black raspberry vanilla scent vibrated his senses and acted as fucking great alarm. He was too close from Natsu to pick up the soap type he used on his skin. Type of perfume too. Everything was switching Gray **ON** , when it needed to be OFF.

Gray let go of the marble top and retreated three steps, too quick for Natsu's taste.

"Ok? What's—you're acting as if you're possessed dude, what's the matter with you?"

Gray coughed to regain control over his voice, resisting the invisible red pull towards Natsu's body.

"Nothing. Will get going now…"

Natsu grabbed Gray's shoulder.

"Hoooooold on a minute! You can't just shove me around and then it's a 'Nothing'!"

Gray whirled, the area between his eyebrows was pinched and his eyes narrowed, "What… what were you thinking... going out naked in a house full of-" His throat hurt, wanting to say (guys), "P-people? What?"

Natsu blinked, and chuckled nervously, "I don't—I'm not naked-I was on the way to get my shirt-"

He didn't know the reason behind the racing pulse and clenching chest. With a gruff tone, he replied, "Well, I don't care what you were getting. You're not going out unless you're fully dressed." His finger pointed up and down at Natsu to emphasize his point.

"Ah-" Natsu's smile was inquiring and edging towards bafflement, his cheeks showing a little red. He licked his lips and waved his hand around, "Tell me one thing." He scowled, "Why's this so important-"

"-Because I consider this as cheating." Gray grumbled, "I don't understand. Do you really wanna cheat on me?"

Natsu was breathless and unmoving. Like the warm thickening steam in the closed bathroom has taken away his words. When his answer never came for the next two minutes, Gray inched closer, his hand on his waist, and his throat irritating him, "Do you?"

As Natsu's lips closed tight, the Adam apple moved up and down his throat, three times, before the blood rushed to his cheeks and ears.

He averted his eyes from Gray's stare, hand scratching slowly at the deep scar on his neck.

 _'What the fuck did I do?'_

To preserve Natsu's body, he blurted out something freaky. And he has to live with the consequences. Just because he exchanged a kiss with Natsu, didn't mean he claimed him. That kiss was apologetic, there were foreigners who did it.

Damn you-

"N-No…" It was a breathless whisper, "N-Not if…"

When Natsu met with Gray's piercing blue eyes, he got more assertive, "No. Not anymore."

The cells in Gray's body tingled, glittered a bright glitter, and he existed on cloud 9. Fuck. He said _'not anymore'_. What sort of unrealism was that? His chest melted with Natsu's answer, but he multiplied his scowl to hide how elated was he to hear those words. He needed to look confident like he _always_ is.

"Then fucking wait here 'till I get you a shirt."

Natsu was urging the 'ok' out, and when it took him so long, Gray proceeded, expecting an agreement. As he held the knob to open the door, his chest electrified him with joy. Shit, he couldn't believe this. He _needed_ to believe this.

He marched backwards with the same scowl he had put on earlier. His friend has retreated 'till his spine was straight up against the wall tiles, gazing at Gray with a flinch and a faint tremble in his chin.

To cover up the panicking in his eyes, Natsu's hand raised to scratch at the scar on his neck again with hesitance, "Wh-what?"

Gray held Natsu's wrist to a stop, then touched the side of his damp neck. The slight touch of his hand seized Natsu's breathing, who fished out the softness inside Gray's cold-looking eyes. He let out a small adoring smile, one that showed off Natsu's charms, taking a step forward to press himself into Gray, brushing their noses.

Gray couldn't be more obvious as his _eyes_ messed with Natsu's lips. The steam leftovers of Natsu's hot shower in the mid-size bathroom enhanced the raspberry vanilla soap along with other fragrances. One of them was their want for each other for so long, over _years_ long, and that smelled so amazing that he swallowed.

How he could resist this guy all that time was beyond him.

"Hurry." His friend's voice sounded sick minutes ago, but as he whispered the word, it sounded different. And it went straight down between his hips.

Fuck, he wouldn't want to go against what Natsu wanted, what _he_ wanted. Immediately, their mouths met and melted in a raw kiss.

Seconds and they broke it off for a second, a third, and a fourth kiss. Gray's hand had moved from Natsu's neck to his hair, and Natsu pushed himself more into Gray as he breathed, his arms wrapping over Gray's shoulders.

That wasn't an apologetic kiss, for sure. It was one that stole his breath, raced his heart, and wetted his mouth. It was more heavenly than the ones he fantasized about, and he savored every second of it. But, he grew greedy fast. He _needed_ more of the warm touch of their lips.

Gray pushed Natsu back on the wall. Natsu had moved his lips away, panting, to glance above with wide eyes. The hook of the towel was _inches_ away from his head.

"Careful-" Gray's pressing kiss stopped Natsu's speech and rewarded him a pretty moan.

Shit, the fog thickened around his brain. He couldn't think of anything but the inviting hotness of Natsu's mouth. And Natsu has responded to him in ways that fluttered his chest. He met Gray's firm presses with eager, but caring ones. He assured Gray once and again with a trail of small kisses on Gray's chin before he was back to his mouth, that he was fine with this, that he wanted this-maybe a little more than Gray himself did.

Nothing rivaled the acceptance feeling Natsu gave him. Just nothing. He could trace Natsu's lower parted lip with his tongue, and Natsu would breathe hard and pull at his chest, begging him for more until Gray pushed it in. His groin twitched because of the erotic dance their tongues carried out. It was as if they were memorizing each other's feel and sweet taste.

He could kiss and graze Natsu's neck with his teeth, and Natsu would bite his lips to strangle the series of throaty groans. Soon, one hand pulled at Gray's hem of pants with a tremble of want, the other left crazy tingling on Gray's spine underneath his shirt.

Fuuuckkk.

"Shit. Shit, shit, you're driving me insane…" Gray said after he had kissed the life out of Natsu.

Natsu's hand moved under Gray's belt-fuck-cupping _him over his underwear_.

"Yeah?" He kissed Gray, flushed to the bones, hand squeezing a little harder, "And what are _you_ doing to me?"

Shit, if Natsu continued what he was doing, he would be asking for a not-so-gentle fuck onto the bathroom's floor.

Gray let the boy pull his shirt above his head, and throw it somewhere, plastering his luscious mouth all over Gray's, making him realize that it was what he wanted, and when Natsu wanted something, he would get it.

But Natsu didn't have to work hard convincing Gray who had already fallen into the black hole of need towards his best friend.

"I'm telling you Erza, I'm sure I left it here!"

"Come on, we don't need it, you could use one of mine."

"Yours are bulky, and I don't have enough experience carrying that."

"You'll be fine."

Their lips froze mid-kiss. Gray's heart has dropped in his foot, and Natsu's hand on him pulled back slow.

"It's so weird. I know the bloody thing is in here somewhere."

"Could be in the other room?" Erza questioned.

Gray held Natsu's waist, forehead pressing against his. When the rustling outside stopped, Natsu breathed out long and came back at Gray.

"Wai-wait." Gray whispered, "No."

Natsu let out a playful whine, "Right? Shit. Man. Shit."

Oh God, Natsu. Don't think you're the frustrated one here. Erza and her friend will pay for this. Gray's gonna launch Vance on their asses and waste the government money.

"Hey." Gray caressed Natsu's flushed cheek as he kissed him, "We're not done. I'll get you, but don't you dare have second thoughts on me."

"Who? Me?" Natsu's skin seared Gray's as he pressed a loving kiss on Gray's chin, " _You_ better not."

"Okie dokie."

With that unspoken promise, Gray could finally pull himself away from Natsu's touch and search for his shirt—that was wet from the bathroom's floor.

"Really? You couldn't be thoughtful?"

"Payback for my towel." Natsu pointed towards the soaked piece of cloth.

They let out small timid chuckles as Gray tried putting on the wet shirt. Now he had to get them both shirts.

"Stop using the shower like a baby."

"Shut it. I'll use it however way I want."

"Man." Gray shook his head as he headed for the door, then took off his shirt, "It's so fucking wet."

Natsu chuckled, still red in the face, "Deal with it!"

He opened the bathroom door and then asked, "Wait, your suitcase is-"

"-I told you, Erzaaaaaaaa. My gut's-"

Erza, her blonde friend, and Gray, froze.

The three exchanged looks and if Gray would've known what came next, he would've never chosen that moment to exit the bloody bathroom.

* * *

Erza's blonde friend sat next to her, unable to stop shaking with an aching grin plastered all over her face that he wanted to wipe so badly. She was freaking _humming_ and Erza encouraged that with her own smirk.

They were doomed, that's a fact.

Natsu and him sat opposite from the girls on the bed, flushed as fuck. Natsu was dressed in an olive-green t-shirt, and Gray was back in a teal comfortable printed t-shirt with two white stripes, his necklace hanging over it.

"Sooo!"

 _'Here it comes…'_

Gray made up excuses, but he was surprised AF that he made pathetic ones, and ones you can't just believe. There was no mysterious creature that appeared in the military and crawled above the bathroom's false ceiling to take away Natsu's life, that's rubbish and he knows it. Gray didn't screw up so awfully often.

 _'Fuck.'_

Natsu sneezed, bending to the front, and his foot jerked from the floor, shivering. It's good they didn't do so much in the bathroom. That dumbass would've collapsed all over. Gray raised the comforter off the bed and draped it around Natsu.

"Thanks." His friend offered a grateful smile.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! They are in their own world!"

That freaking blonde irritated the shit out of him. Should he treat Natsu like garbage so she shuts up or what?

Erza grinned with the blonde who asked, "Sooooooo, are you two dating?"

The boys froze. Gray wasn't sure how to handle the question, and again, why was she asking? Why stick your nose in other people's businesses? That's wrong, very wrong.

He crossed one leg over the other and exchanged looks with Natsu who was as twitchy as he is.

Dating? That's a big word. Natsu and him needed to talk at one point (when they're not busy exploring bodies), but until then, he couldn't force them under the 'dating' category. He didn't know what Natsu wanted. He knows Natsu would not cheat on him though. That's… something, right?

After clearing his throat, Gray said, "It's a… work in progress."

Erza's friend wasn't expecting that answer, so she stopped humming, but then beamed, "But you're together, right?"

Damn that girl.

Natsu interjected, "Lucy, give us a break, will you?"

"Do you want me to tell the entire world?" She teased with a fake evil grin.

"Seriously?" Natsu used his manly charms and flashed a timid smile, then she was his.

"I'm so excited, that's all." She rubbed the back of her blonde head, "It's so funny! I thought you were into me-"

"-Oh god, I thought he was into me!" Erza pointed at Gray.

The boys didn't find it so funny when Erza and the blonde laughed like there was no tomorrow.

"Anyway, _Gray_ ," Erza straightened herself, contained her laughter, and that sounded weird, "Shouldn't you be working on weapon development? What are you doing here?"

 _'Fuck…'_

Right. Shit. Natsu has sidetracked him from thinking about his ex-manager's 'theoretical' schemes.

"Erza," Gray surprised them with his firm tone, "Let's contact Hibiki about Gildarts. I can't trust him, and I can't work with someone whom I can't trust, period."

"Did he do something?" Erza's tone switched to be as firm as Gray's.

"No." Gray rubbed his hair, "But I remember that day all the time and I can't do this. I'd like to think I can work with him fine, but how do you guys know that he's not stealing data, that-"

"Hibiki has sent someone to monitor him. She's also watching the data flow, and so far, we haven't been informed of any misconduct from his side. But I understand what you're feeling, it's normal." She paused, then smiled, "Don't worry. This time, he won't hurt you. Won't hurt anyone as long as Lieutenant Freed and Major Laxus are around. Sergeant Sting too. And to be honest, he's not a trash of a person. It's the circumstances that led him to that point."

"…" Gray exhaled and Natsu gave him a worried look.

Erza rubbed her hands together, then said, "If you want, we could speak to Hibiki about it. Tell him you can't do it, but I'd advise you to try again before we do that."

Gray nodded, reluctantly.

"Shit!" The blonde's hand flew to her open mouth, "Loke has been waiting for half an hour!"

Erza and the blonde jumped and exited the room with a fast 'see ya'.

* * *

Natsu's hands sought the warmth of the peppermint green tea Gray handed him.

"I'm never gonna recuperate…" Natsu sneezed, rubbing at his nose, "All because of you."

"Don't put the blame on me. You were the one who got out naked." Gray sat next to Natsu on the bed and shot him a reprimanding look.

"And you made it all better." Natsu didn't scoff, but Gray heard it anyway.

"Fucking drink and shut up."

Natsu wiped his nose, and looked up, a little flushed, "Right, I'm okay. All dressed up. You can go if you want to."

Erza's words resonated, and despite her assurances, Gildarts's presence in Unit 8 rattled him and his thoughts, and he was lost. He didn't know what to do when he almost _always_ did.

Bugged and frustrated, Gray tousled his hair and leaned to the front.

"Gray."

He heard a sigh. His friend scooted next to him and nudged his leg.

"What happened before you come here?" Natsu's voice softened with the inquiry. "He did something, didn't he?"

"It's not that." His chest stiffened, "I've always wanted to work with him, and now that I had the chance to do it, I—there's no way to run from the fact that I'm scared. I'm scared he'll steal data, I'm scared he'll kill people, that he'll hurt you. God, what did I do?"

Natsu placed the steaming cup of tea on the bedstand. He got rid of the blanket on him in favor of an arm around Gray's shoulder.

"Don't worry about me. He's not stealing anything, and he's not killing anybody, and even if he did, it's not your fault. I was angry as fuck earlier, and I blamed you he's here—I wanted someone to be blamed. But it's not you, It's the amazing psychopathic general, and god only knows the reason he brought him for-"

"-right? Dude, when I saw him at the door, I could only think of SHIT, we are all fucking dead."

"Meh." Natsu shrugged, his warmth tingling Gray's limbs, "If it's tough working with him, speak up and Hibiki has to deal. And he's not hurting you. I'll kill him before he does, alright? But, to be honest, I don't think he will. Call it a hunch."

Natsu's instincts were sharp and impeccable. The strong way he spoke and held his shoulder calmed Gray a hell a lot. It subdued the panic churning in his stomach because more than anyone, Gray trusted Natsu the most.

Before realizing, his lips offered a smile that reached his eyes. His arm pulled Natsu's waist closer to him, "You're amazing, you know?"

Natsu's cheeks burned, although he grunted, "Of course."

* * *

Erza's and Laxus's strict orders echoed all over the place. Gray Failed to decipher Elfman Strauss's accomplishments, who strode upstairs and downstairs, altering between multiple teams. Loke abandoned Natsu's side in favor of doing actual work with Erza, and Sting Eucliffe who stuck onto Gajeel's side.

Gray worked with Gildarts whose soul was attached to the laptop data. Both individuals in the study room noticed the change of atmosphere because an hour ago, it was strict and electrified, then it was cloudy storms full of Laxus's thunder.

A girl with long platinum hair jerked the door of the study room open.

"Major Laxus Dreyar calls for an urgent meeting."

Gray and Gildarts dropped their tools and followed the lady without taking their safety glasses off.

Major Laxus was in the middle of the living room with the other teams gathered. Natsu rested on the sofa next to Lucy, and Gray detested it because they became close friends in an instant, and it wasn't logical. _  
Maybe it's the big boobs effect._

"We've got a confirmation the blue Pegasus base is being infiltrated. Our northern forces are doing their best to suppress the infiltration from deepening and taking control over the situation, but expect the worst."

While Laxus bellowed, their ears caught up the sound of an explosion, and sirens. Shit. Gray's ears drummed and Natsu straightened his posture on the sofa, color fading from his face.

Lieutenant Freed Justine rubbed the back of his head and clapped his hands.

"Remain calm. The blue Pegasus base is highly secured. Whoever infiltrated will be sorry when they realize how stupid they were. We can't move around or act on anything until we get directions from the general. Do you all get that?"

The teams nodded, but Gray saw fire in their eyes... as if they wanted to get out and fight. They were arrogant or crazy.

The earth shook underneath their feet, and Gray held a gasp.

"Shouldn't we move out?" Gray blurted, "To a place more secured?"

Major Laxus glared, "We're on the far south of the base, the most secure location. Not only that, we can't move _you two_ around as we please, unless we get official orders."

Lieutenant Freed Justine nodded, "Keep your eyes open and report if anything happens. Dismissed."

A hand landed on Gray's shoulder.

Gildarts' stern look signaled a critical situation, "He's here. We've got no time to waste."

Gray hurried after his ex-boss to the study room, head nagging with one thought.

"How do you know it's him?"

Gildarts typed on the keyboard several codes. "I don't. I assume it's him because your friend has communicated with him like three days ago, and now this happens, so yeah."

"Yeah, but anything can happen, right?"

"Right." Gildarts said, "Remember when you were working like hell and you were super focused, like only ten minutes ago?"

"…"

"Please get back at it. And we don't have a half day. This has to be done within three hours max."

Gray resisted laughing hysterically.

"Three… hours? I'm not a robot!"

"Then be one." Gildarts commanded dryly, "Be fucking one. You have three hours, starting now."

"Fuck!" Gray ran to his desk, trying to catch up with the trickiest deadline set to humanity.

"MAJOR LAXUS!" Gildarts hollered. Both Lieutenant Freed Justine, and Laxus Dreyar entered the study room.

"The hell is wrong with you?" Laxus questioned.

"The Drones. We have only three hours to get them delivered, as well as the other two developed models."

"Come again?" Laxus waved his hand around, "It's not toffee—even the toffee batch delivery doesn't work like that."

"Listen to him!" Gray yelled, overwhelmed by the deadline, but frightened because if Gildarts set a three-hour limit to their preparations, it was all they have.

And no other choice.

Lieutenant Freed Justine nodded and held Laxus's shoulder, who sighed.

"I'll see what I can do."

Prior being confined in the study room, Gray has spotted the apprehension on Natsu's pale face, and he wished to talk to Natsu, but the three-hour deadline stood between them.

Gray pushed himself to the limits. The three-hour limit crushed his soul with stress, more and more when the bangs of explosions rippled around Unit 8. His brain panicked and curiosity nagged on him to check on the compound's predicament.

"Can I intrude?"

Gildarts replied, "We're super busy, I'm afraid you can't."

A female entered the room and offered them both a frantic bow.

"I heard about the three hour-limit from Major Laxus. I can help."

Gray never stopped the work, leaving Gildarts to do the talking for him. This girl… she thinks she can do the work that he has been doing for almost a week?! Fuck, even arrogance should have reasonable limits.

"What are your qualifications? What makes you think you can come into this room and throw this joke our way? You realize this isn't the time for jests, right?"

The girl fixed her big brown eyes on them, "I understand your concern; however, I have accessed all the data you both are working on ever since Gray has been discovered to work on the weapon. I'm a fast learner, and I know what you're trying to accomplish, thus, I'll need minor pointers."

Her comment had Gildarts speechless for a minute as he analyzed her.

Gray paid no attention to their conversation and continued. A shadow bothered his vision, thus, he looked up to eliminate the source.

"Levy McGarden, I'll be your assistant."

"Are you fucking… hey BOSS! This shorty should be sent home to drink more milk to grow. I'll be damned if she held my precious voltmeter."

Lately, all Gildarts does was shooting him stern looks. "She's not asking to help. She will help because she was ordered to."

"Precisely." Her blue hair irritated him, "Please let me help. For such complicated programming, that deadline is close to impossible."

"If she proved to be incompetent from the first five minutes, we'll throw her out." Gildarts warned.

"Noted." She wasn't offended.

"Get over here." Gray ordered.

He transferred knowledge to her of what to be accomplished, being concise and unfair so she will drop-out after five minutes.

Shit you not, Gray almost wet his pants when, shit you not, she achieved progress over him, and even pointed out some of his mistakes. She had safety glasses on as she helped Gray with the operation and forget about Natsu Dragneel! He has fallen in love with the girl!

Ok… that was an innocent joke.

Stop glaring you.

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** Next week, Wednesday 27th May.

Hey Guys, I've released this chapter earlier than promised because tomorrow, I'll be super occupied with various things, and an appointment with the dentist came out of no where, like what the fuck? Anyway, there you go!

 **Special thanks to:** deboome (I love it when people swear after reading the chapter hahahaha. I don't know why, but I find it very funny. Thanks for reading and reviewing, you're the best.), Kori No Koibito (Quarantine, is the best. I'm such a fucking introvert, so this... it's perfect for me. I get to be home all the time, YAY.), JO (Err... I hope you don't mind the stupid things they did this chapter... *nervous laughs*...)

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that. AND stay safe, stay home.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	20. Chapter 20

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content **.**

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** T **w** e **n** t **y O.** o **.O**

* * *

Time Remaining:

 **1:00:50**

* * *

"Hand me that, will you?"

"Yes!"

Initially, Gray abandoned politeness with Levy McGarden to see how far she could go without breaking down like females do, but yeah, it wasn't going so well. She was useful, efficient, accepted his commands with diligence, and he marveled her efforts. Despite the ruckus resonating in the military base, they tuned it out, accelerated their speed to finish the job, and Gray was no longer concerned by the sound of detonation.

That fucking deadline and _Gildarts Clive's glower_ horrified him and the girl to death.

"BRATS! We have no time for errors and you burned a fuse?"

"It was her fault!" Gray attempted to save his life.

"The hell it was!" She yelled with flushed cheeks, "We both know how it was burned, don't you dare!"

"Oh yeah genius?!" Gray slammed his hand on the table, "Who read the plans and told me where to cut?!"

"Don't pin this on me! I said I was a fast learner, but there're limits! Also, you were the one who forgot to put the insulation or was it my imaginary father who did?!"

"I don't care who did what! Fix the fucking fuse!"

Gray and the girl quivered and resumed work like their lives depended on it.

Major Laxus Dreyar, followed by Lieutenant Freed, Sergeant Sting, Gajeel, Loke, and Erza entered their study room. The sudden invasion has made Gray curious, but he didn't have the time to question it.

"Good news and bad news."

"Good first!" Gildarts demanded.

"The Drones, truck, and other two prototypes are here."

Gildarts tossed himself on the office chair and bumped his fist in the air. "YES!" He laughed, "Thank god. Your bad news aren't gonna faze me."

"YOU BETTER BE FAZED!" Gajeel yelled, stomping, "WE'RE ALL DEAD!"

* * *

Time Remaining:

 **00:20:50**

* * *

Because Gray and Levy didn't have the luxury of abandoning their duty, Major Laxus held a brief meeting in the study room, involving the three teams and Natsu.

"Four Christina Bomber ships were stolen by the enemy."  
Most of the team members stopped blinking. They didn't move or speak too. But Erza's mouth was open, and her eyes were wide. And if the news horrified "Erza", he should take it seriously and pay attention.

Christina?

"WHAT?" Erza paled, her jaw dropping.

"Are… you…?" Loke couldn't finish off his sentence.

"This has to be verified! Otherwise we're all dead!" Came Sting's positive comment.

There was no chance in hell Natsu knew what is Christina bomber, but hearing them talk about it brought deep concern on his features… because it was the unknown.

"Sergeant Sting," Laxus's expression tightened more than it already is, "When did I ever throw rumors around?"

Sting paled and gave his usual half-assed stiff bow, "Apologies."

Dismissing the rude Sergeant from his cone of vision, Laxus directed his talk to Gildarts's team (Gray and Levy), "Christina Bomber is a battle airship equipped with a Jupiter cannon which can annihilate all of us in mere seconds. Even less. The enemy has now FOUR. The General himself is leading a fleet from the headquarters."

"Jupiter…?" Gildarts mouth dropped open, "I… have heard nothing about this! Do you still keep those things here? Didn't I warn against it? For god's sake, you stupid people!" His ex-boss pinched the bridge of his nose, "How on earth were they stolen?!"

"I don't know." Laxus lost control over his composure, "But it sure isn't the time to dwell on this!"

"Shit…" Erza trembled, "Shit, Jupiter?"

"And four of them to boot…" Loke chuckled, "We'll be eradicated from the map…"

"That's not the only problem. There were riots in the internment camp two hours ago, and now we know criminals have broken out. The general activated the alarm, and everyone is evacuating the base. We're evacuating in 5 minutes. Gather everything you were working on and out!"

"HUH?" Gray almost tripped, "We're still working here!"

"Captain." Laxus acknowledged Lucy, "I'll leave the civilian under your care."

"Ah." She straightened herself, "Yes!"

She pulled clueless Natsu away before he can protest and called out her team, evacuating the Unit. Laxus Dreyar forced an immediate evacuation that every creature (including ants) had to comply with.

Outside Unit 8, four armed SUVs queued, a specialized heavy tactical truck/tractor, dozens of missile launching trucks waited for the fifteen and more individuals to evacuate and lead the way. A good number of militants helped push the weapon/converted artillery/Vance onto a partial carriage that transferred it to the tactical truck.

Gray wished to have time to digest the situation, but he wasn't that fortunate.

He got in the tactical tractor with Levy, Gildarts, Erza and Laxus.

Natsu was away from him in one of the lighter SUV's, and it bugged him. He didn't even get the chance to say anything to the pink haired before they went separate ways.

"Drive!" Laxus ordered and Erza complied, driving the heavy tactical tractor. Loke followed her lead, driving one of the lighter SUVs, and he aligned with Erza on the right side. To her Left, Sergeant Mirajane Strauss drove like a devil from hell, and in front of them came Lieutenant Freed Justine, while behind them Captain Lucy Heartfilia.

Other military individuals/newcomers drove the missile launching trucks and followed their backs to protect it.

 _'This is fucking heavy.'_

Was this War? The whole predicament unnerved him, and who wouldn't be? Was that fucking Jupiter Cannon such a badass for the entire base to panic?

"We're not engaging ourselves in any way unless the situation demands it, am I clear?" Major Laxus Dreyar wasn't only communicating with his teams the message, but also Gildarts Clive's one.

"Got you." Gildarts nodded, working with the screen.

"When is the Fleet reaching? Estimated—do we have an estimated time, General?"

 **"Major, hold up twenty minutes."**

Hibiki appeared on one of the thousand monitors in the back of the tractor. Laxus communicated with driving Erza through earphones and the other team members in the SUVs.

Gray's surprise at hearing Hibiki's voice through his own headset didn't stop him from focusing on his own screen of work. He had to adjust Vance's programming, and since Gray had no expertise in drones, he left Gildarts and Levy to activate all of them. He conceded that disastrous events were guaranteed to happen in case he involved himself.

 **"Sergeant Laxus! Where're we going?!"** Lucy sounded frantic.

"Since we can't approach the northern zone's exit, we're heading to the southern gate. Aim there! I released the order to open the gates. Hopefully, we'll have backup in time."

Gildarts sat in front of a screen with a program running and activated the drones to fly from the Unit 8. They shaped a star on top of the vehicles they were set to follow.

"Hey big head!" Gildarts jumped in the conversation.

Laxus twitched, but wasn't able to get back at Gildarts then.

"Drones detected air activity closing up on us."

Laxus's yellow orbs hardened and cussed.

"TEAM! RUN 200!"

"Major, we're engaging ourselves now."

Gray's tapping on the keyboard of Vance halted the minute Gildarts declared that fact. How did he even…? Major Laxus Dreyar replied with a faint nod and hold up, wait a sec. Since when did Gildarts's word overrule the Major's?

"Great." Gildarts smiled and Gray hated it, "Brats, get this thing ready."

"Gray. I don't know if this will work…" Levy whispered, "I'm… scared."

Gray had sweat on his forehead… the pressure… the pressure. His hands were sweaty, and he gritted his teeth to stop shaking.

"It will." Gray hissed, "It has to!"

Upon gazing at the drone's monitor, his mouth opened, and his breath hardened.

Christina Bomber was an airship designed for death, nothing else. The exterior of it was darkness, the size of it covered an entire complex of buildings, and its wings rained blue death blasts.

 **"They're catching up! THEY'RE CATCHING UP!"** Lucy yelled and drove faster to be in line with Mirajane. Their SUVs and trucks broke through many security check gates on the way out, but they'd exited the whole compound and drove in the outskirts.

"Team!" Laxus called, "The Jupiter cannon is yet to be activated! Don't panic until then!"

"How long does it take until it's activated?!" Gildarts inquired.

Laxus punched the sturdy metal of the truck, "Fifteen minutes... we got the report about them stolen exactly eleven minutes ago… and I don't know if that's accurate…"

 **"We are dead, huh?"** Sting said.

"All! We run fast until Hibiki-the General arrives with air support! We can't confront these battleships until then! I won't risk it!"

Gray's body shivered. The battleship torpedoed buildings, trucks, lives, skilled squadrons, and anything in its way, all of which he witnessed from the Drone monitor. Sting mentioned 'dead' earlier, and he knew why. These weren't the kind of battleships you'd scoff at. It's the kind that makes you think about your own size and limitations as a human fucking being.

It's funny. He has just got his friend back, and they have just connected. Natsu and him… were they doomed to be separated in life and death? Was it a sign that they didn't belong to one another?

" **Great God, My fleet can see the fireworks from here.** " Hibiki "The General", whistled.

"You better hurry your ass! The four of them are catching up!" the major said, "They-"

A devilish purple and blue beam blasted on earth from afar, wobbling their tractor on the tattering earth.

"NAAAH!" Erza struggled to tame the tractor when she was shaking herself. All the passengers held on to the metallic frame not to allow their bodies to flaunt around. The earthquake was vast, and the missile launching trucks behind did their absolute best to maintain their distance, not to smash into each other.

The shake continued for the longest two minutes of their lives, but afterwards, it was less in effect.

" **Sergeant… That's…** " Mirjane Strauss' trailed.

"—One is launched… three more and everything will be over." Laxus shook his head, "We have to run…"

Gildarts tapped one last time on the keyboard and stretched his neck, "Major. Preparations are done, and we're ready to engage ourselves."

Major Laxus sighed, "You're not an idiot. Have you seen what happened? Do you think your play thing has a shot?"

"You know me." Gildarts Clive grinned, "I won't say things unless I'm sure."

The team has heard this brief debate, and none of them interfered. None but Erza Scarlet.

"Major, with all respect. I think we should listen to him. Just this once."

"Erza, you're all my responsibility—I can't-"

"We've got nothing to lose here, Major. If we don't use what we have, we're gone without a chance to fight and I'd hate that."

" **She's right and you know it**." Loke said, " **We know we're doomed, anyway. This won't make it worse.** "

" **I agree**." Sergeant Mirajane spoke firmly.

There was no room for Major Laxus to argue because they tumbled his reasoning before he even started it.

" **Major-** " Sting started.

"Not you too! Sting, Shut up, will you?"

" **You know your men too well.** " Lieutenant Freed chuckled, " **You know I'm authorized to engage Gildarts Clive, right?** "

"Oh. Is that a threat?"

It wasn't the first time Lieutenant Freed Justine has undermined Major Laxus's decisions publicly, and god only knows how he got away with it. Laxus wasn't the man to mess with, so that Freed was either a psychopath, or a suicidal motherfucker.

" **Not at all. I could've engaged him twenty minutes ago, complying with our headquarters' orders, but I believe in your judgement.** "

"That's funny. Was that the same judgment that got you shot in the ass?" Laxus's tone wasn't strict or strong as he showed before. It was all replaced by a moment of weakness that baffled Gray.

" **You're too melodramatic, Laxus**." Lieutenant Freed sighed, " **So what? You'd let me die this time? Wow, thanks.** "

"Guys… this is a touching moment but…" Levy warned, "Christina Bomber 2 is too close… and I don't think their Jupiter Cannon is activated."

"I hate to interrupt this beautiful moment too, but…" Gildarts tapped on the Major's shoulder, "We need an official decision from you-"

"-get to work, we'll back you up."

The teams weren't present in the tactical tractor, but their cheery whistles eased the situation and made death sound like a field trip with friends. He was scared, terrified, his skin was clammy, but the people he was going down with felt like a lost family. Their bravery has reached him and he was excited to fight with them and prove that he can protect them.

"Did you hear that, kiddo?"

"Let's get to work." He grinned, "Let's put this Jupiter Cannon to shame. I want Vance to be the star of this lovely evening."

"Sweet." Gildarts returned to his seat, "Drone number one."

"It's loaded with the prototype." Gray said, "Amazing, I've always wanted to see the original version in action."

"LAUNCH!" Gildarts unleashed the first Drone of the five. The prototype of the pressure magnificator they received recently from the manufacturer was carried by the powerful drone that flew straight to Christina Bomber 2.

"Bolt division, open fire!" Laxus commanded.

At his command, the right hand division of the missile launching trucks fired, before Captain Lucy Heartfilia gave the next command, " **Taurus, Virgo, Scorpio, Gemini, go!** "

The left-hand missile loaded trucks fired, right when Erza commanded, "Knight Division, open fire!" and the trucks at the back fired.

Gildarts's Drone reserved the front seat of the series of attacks targeting Christina Bomber 2. The Drone dropped the pressure magnificator prototype that attached itself to Christina's top, and a second later, the missiles smashed the ship's wings.

They saw an explosion at the top of the ship penetrate the metallic body 'till it reached the rear, which brought it to the ground and produced another set of earthquakes.

" **Lord!** " Their Lieutenant struggled with the bumpy drive.

Gildarts's team was all cheers amongst the others.

"WE DID IT!" The three of them raised their fists in the air.

"It works Erza! It works!" Gray shouted, his voice cheering, "One down!"

"SERGEANT MIRAJANE!" Laxus called, "BEHIND YOU!"

A missile was launched from the back to protect Sergeant Mirajane from the series of blasts directed by Christina Bomber 1. However, Knight division failed to estimate the number of missiles they had to fire to avoid a tragedy.

Gildarts gritted his teeth and directed one drone to take the blast for the lady Sergeant.

"Fuck… that was too close…" Gildarts released a long relieved sigh, "You brats… seriously. Don't allow ME of all people to look after your asses. OI SERGEANT MIRAJANE! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING?! I JUST LOST TWO PRECIOUS DRONES!"

" **Thank you… I owe you one.** " She sounded anxious.

"I don't mind having a beautiful woman owing me…" Gildarts grinned, "I intend to make you pay the debt…"

Laxus glared, "Did you say something?"

"N-Nothing…"

Christina Bomber 1 directed a series of blasts which targeted the missile launching trucks, and according to Laxus, they've lost Gimini and Taurus divisions. Gildarts has launched another drone with the other pressure magnificator prototype, but Chrisitina Bomber 3 shot it down before it reached the wings.

Gray and Levy shuddered at the blast that hit their precious drone AND prototype. They had two drones left. One had to carry Vance and ensures that it reaches the ship before it launches the Jupiter cannon or they faced a bleak ending.

Right when they worried, they lost Virgo and Scorpio division before three death loaded airships.

" **Asking for permission to use my rocket launcher**."

Erza sweat dropped, "Lucy, calm down."

" **They toasted my divisions, and you're asking me to calm down?!** "

"Captain." Laxus yelled, "Drive and stay put."

"Major, air activity coming up head…" Gildarts warned Laxus with a strained face, "Shit… that's a lot, we can't…"

"Eh?" For the first time, Erza sounded alarmed.

"…" Laxus grinned instead of being horrified to death like Gray was, "Took you long enough princess."

" **Happy to see you too**."

The General's Fleet of airships appeared at the far front, and behind the sharpness of the several allied steel battleship forces, four Christina Bomber airships approached.

" **I'm so sad to have to destroy my** **beautiful creations… I'll never forgive whoever stole them…** "

"No time for sentiments…" Laxus voice was cold, "We've lost a good number of divisions, lives too."

" **Right**."

The allied squadrons made way for Hibiki's Christina to launch a reverse Jupiter cannon which destroyed Christina Bomber one, bringing it to the ground. Soon, their cheers were suppressed by Hibiki's comment.

" **Hmmm**. **You failed to mention there were seven stolen and not only four**. **Well done taking one out**. **That's outstanding.** "

"WHAT THE…?!" Everyone sounded frantic. As three more airships approached them from their right side.

"FUCK!" During the process, Gildarts had both of his remaining drones shattered to protect other members of the suicidal team.

"Request for an airship that can lift dead weight." Gildarts raised the alarm, "Right now."

" **You got it**." Was Hibiki's prompt response. " **Silver 300 is your ride**."

The grin forced itself on Gray's lips. "That's my ride too."

An airship landed on their Tractor. Gildarts and Gray were provided with glasses to protect them, earplugs for air pressure, and special black leather jackets. While his ex-boss piloted the airship, Gray jumped in the passenger seat in the back, both carrying Vance and heading towards three of the Christina Bomber ships.

Major Laxus couldn't object further when one of the Anti-Christina ships' Jupiter cannon was about to launch.

"That's it…" Gildarts sighed, "Can't believe I have to die with you or here. Like why? For what? My beautiful Cana will be an orphan."

"She's so old to be an orphan." Gray sweat dropped, "I can't believe I have to die with you old man! I always believed I'll die with Natsu or something."

"Yeah… he too is gonna be wrecked."

"…"

"His blinding love for you is sickening. I wonder what he sees in you." Gildarts grinned.

Gray's heart melted at the comment and pushed him to look where he thought Natsu was.

"Me too." Gray whispered.

"Ready?" Gildarts inquired.

"Ready."

Gildarts avoided dozens of blasts and attempted to get closer from one of the Christinas.

"Shit!" Gray has seen the skilled squadrons all over the base, but Gildarts was the last person on earth that he imagined he would have those skills, even far greater than them.

Did this guy have a history in the military?

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Gildarts repeated.

"I can't be the pilot. I need you to stay here… I'll do what I'm capable of. Besides, I'm longing to see what you, I, and Levy have developed."

"Kid… you won't enjoy it if you're dead."

"I'll live." Gray assured, his hair floating around, "Or If I die, I'll make sure that I take that ship with me and be useful."

Gildarts scoffed. "I'll not let my cute subordinate die. Follow my orders and you'll be fine."

"As if. You shot me twice. You'll wait till I finish the job and then finish me off yourself." Gray strongly believed so.

"Brat, that hurts. I knew where I was aiming before."

"… Right."

"I need your focus. Once Vance gets attached to the airship, you're going to activate function zero, and get back here. So simple."

"… Right."

Gildarts maneuvered his way onto Christina Bomber 4. Gray wore a backpack and had another in his hand. Once the glazed ceiling of his battle aircraft opened, the air pressure was sharp and hurtful that knocked off his balance, and he fell off.

 _'God! God! God!'_

He pushed a button from the backpack, and a parachute opened, decreasing the heaviness of the fall, and restoring a bit of his sanity.

He dragged his feet on Christina Bomber 4 and reached Vance which had its tip penetrating through the steel surface. The coldness crept up Gray's foot, spread to his spine till it reached his brain. He was overwhelmed in the air as he manipulated the buttons to work.

" **KIDDO! ARE YOU DONE YET?!** "

"YOU CRAZY? I'M STARTING!"

" **Gray! The minute you find a problem, you need to abort! No time for fixing mistakes!** " Hibiki's command came through.

"OF COURSE I WILL."

That's a lie to get them off his back.

"Ok, ok, ok, ok. Great. Buddy, it's your time. Please don't fail me…" Gray recited his prayers, kissed the metallic surface of the weapon, and activated.

It required three minutes to activate. His orders were to get back to Gildarts as soon as it activates, but his gut had to makes sure it went as planned, so he preferred to wait until its two minutes down.

Gildarts's airship maneuvered away from the blasts coming its way, and was disappearing before Gray's eyes, but he didn't panic as he saw Gildarts struggling his way back.

" **Kiddo, you're done?!** "

"Not yet." Gray lied.

" **You should be done! I can't keep this up! Hurry!** "

" **Gray? You have to get back now.** "

"Put Natsu through."

" **Wha…?"**

"Put Natsu through."

A second before a sick-yelling reached him.

" **WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!** "

"Hey bastard! Listen to me real good!" Gray grinned, "Whatever happens! Don't cheat on me!"

" **What… are you… talking about?**!" Natsu cracked, " **Why are you so selfish all the-?** "

"That will be all!" Gray yelled.

A minute later, Vance was activated.

Sky Blue thick laser penetrated through Christina Bomber 4, reaching Christina Bomber 3, from the left, and Christina Bomber 5 and 6 from the right. It could easily do it because the four had the same magnetic field that the laser detected.

A sound of crackling crystallization sent Gray's heart to a full blown excitement. Bone shattering coldness surrounded him until his breaths came out ragged. Ice continued to form beneath his feet and gnawed at the ship until it has covered it. Gray stared at the scene before him, thinking it was unreal.

All four airships were swallowed by crystallizing merciless dazzling blue Ice as the thick laser connected them and transferred the sickness. His feet was glued to the falling airship, and the skin of his face, hands, arms, torso, and other locations burned and bled with cutting coldness, and he couldn't feel his lungs any more.

" **Gray**!" Gildarts yelled.

His brain froze, and was incapable of producing speech.

A missile was launched to break the part of the airship his feet has been stuck at.

Loke opened the roof of his SUV, and used his RPG along with Major Laxus and Captain Lucy. Loke reversed the SUV with full speed to catch up with the falling body of the crazy electrical engineer who didn't have the strength to open the second parachute.

" **THIS FUCKER! I'LL MURDER HIM!** " Loke shouted.

" **I WILL DO THAT BEFORE YOU!** " Laxus hollered.

Gray fell on Loke's back seat along with heavy metallic wreck of the battleship, causing the vehicle to flip. Loke's arm bled as he tried to control the vehicle that rolled multiple times before it seized in movement.

The accident was Vast.

And the suicidal team was in shock.

Natsu stared at the scene while his green eyes lost the life of them.

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** Next week, Wednesday, 3rd June.

Hey Guys!

Yessssss, we're officially done from the Military phase. Next phase in the final one. The story isn't ending so soon, but on its way. Next phase is the final one, mainly consists of Natsu and Gray moments, insecurities, misunderstandings, love, passion, stubbornness, etc. As a writer and reader, next phase is what i love the most. Because they love each other so much, yet they won't openly and clearly share it with each other.

I'm so excited to share these chapters with you. Until then!

 **Special thanks to:** deboome (Ahhhhh, they CAN be sweet to each other, they just WON'T do it all the time, bastards! Hehe, you will like the coming chapters more as I noted in my message above. I'm so excited to show it soon!), Kori No Koibito (Ohhh, yes Lucy will show more often now. She'll be a great contributor to this relationship. Won't say more!), JO (... yup. I did write it... Hope you liked it!), Ren (Heeeeyyy. Hands tissues. Please don't faint!)

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that. AND stay safe, stay home.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	21. Chapter 21

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content **.**

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** T **w** e **n** t **y** O **n** e **O.** o **.O**

* * *

 **Narita, Japan – 11:00 AM – Kameda Medical Center**

* * *

"Were you ever introduced to the word gentleness?!"

"How about I give away your dick and balls to a man who deserves them?"

"Shit!"

"We're almost done, you're being a big baby."

"You said the same thing ten WHOLE minutes ago. You have a grudge against me, God knows why!"

"I'm doing my job. No one forced you to commit a half-assed suicide. You reap what you sow."

"Thank you for confirming my suspicions. Are you finished? Please say yes!"

"Don't cry now."

"Haha, funny."

"Cleaning is done. I need a minute to close up."

"A minute…? No. NO!"

"I'll make it 40 seconds…? You're making it worse for me every day."

"I'M SO SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE!"

"Are you guys done?"

"… I need a minute. You can talk to him if you want; he's as energetic as always."

"Heeeello there~~"

"Hello my foot! Hey! You just said you'll make them 40 seconds!"

"Hoooo. He IS energetic."

"She's a lunatic, you're a lunatic. Man, how I wish I had committed suicide!"

"-I'm here to-"

"-Spare me. I'm so sick of seeing your uncooperative face! I'll recuperate soon. And when I do, I'll look for the idiot myself. You and your subordinates including _Gajeel Dick_ and _Erza Shitty Scarlet_ can kiss my ahh-hhs!"

"First of all, if we rewind the events, you won't find a more tolerant and cooperative person than kind 'me'. Still am."

"This is Natsu I'm talking about, Hibiki-san. It's Natsu. I left my life behind to help him… you think I'll let him slip away easily? THINK AGAIN!"

"Natsu Dragneel wants it this way. And when your friend wants something, It's scary. Plus, don't you think he got you waaaaaay too involved? He solved it. You're better off now."

"Lemme tell you a cute short story. I've tried living without him for-for three years. It was awful, I've tried to pull through, and it was a failure, and now that I met him again, I sure as hell won't do it all over. I'll do anything and everything to find him, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ASSHOLE?!"

"…"

"Cool, I'm done. Next time will be in two days. Remember, don't wiggle."

"Ah… God… thank God…"

"You're welcome. I'm awesome that way."

"No comment!"

"Stop being difficult, ok?"

"Get out—"

"—listen. Put yourself in my shoes. I witnessed this nonsense corrupted drama from the beginning till the end—and god knows, it's far from ending. Anyhow, the source of your inconvenience is… vanished. He wants you to get a job, start a new life, and move on. None of us is blind to the attraction you have for each other. I'm not a homophobe, but it's unhealthy with the situation at hand, I concluded. Plus, he's brave and smart to come up with such a practical solution."

"You have no fucking right whatsoever to conclude anything that's between me and him. You don't know shit in the pile of bullshit! He belongs to me, and I'll get him, and that's the way it's gonna be. If you refuse to help me so much, then bear the consequences, 'cause guess what! I can create badass weapons now."

"Is this a threat?"

" **HELL TO THE YES**."

"This is so boring. Aren't you people bored repeating that talk? Hey man, look what I brought."

"Oh… thanks, I need it with ALL the bullshit I'm going through."

"You're welcome. How did things go today with the doctor?"

"Awful like always. I want it to be over."

"We've been told you need three more weeks or something…"

"You heard right. Any progress with Loke?"

"He's gonna be alright. He was flirting with the nurses. That's why he elongated his stay, nothing more, nothing less."

"I never thought I'd say this, but fuck, I'm glad."

"That shows you're maturing. Hibiki-san, shall we? Gray needs to rest."

"Right. We'll visit again."

"Next time, you visit with Natsu's location for me."

"Then I won't come."

"Then don't."

* * *

"How're you feeling?"

"Beat. She sucked my life force in the morning, gave me a pain killer. I'm a bundle of complicated mess... sleepy all the damn time."

"That so…?"

"You don't have to visit… I know how busy you guys are."

"Don't say that. I haven't met someone like you in forever. It's been a pleasure working with you, and the mere thought we were gonna lose you…"

"Don't tell me you've got a crush on me."

"Idiot! I'll have you know I have a boyfriend!"

"Phew. To be honest, you're cute, and I was looking for a gentle way to turn you down."

"Oh my god. What kind of pills are you taking?!"

"Apple tastes nice."

"Good. Did they mention when will you be released?"

"Like in three weeks, if everything goes well."

"Do you have any plans?"

"I have one solid plan for now."

"Oh, that's-"

"—getting my asshole friend back. After that… I don't care."

"Is the General still adamant?"

"Fucker came this morning, and we fought. His attitude is impossible."

"Your friend has taken Hibiki-san's assurances. His situation's tough; he can't break his word and simply tell you."

"...I can't rest knowing there's a slight chance Natsu's back in Guinea. If I must travel to Africa, so be it-"

"-But he's got the Guinean passport revoked."

"Huh…?"

"He asked Hibiki to do something about it, and they succeeded with the ambassador-san's help."

"Fucker. He… didn't tell me…"

"Maybe he forgot. Honestly, Hibiki-san's like the queen of bees and you're always busy fighting with him."

"…"

"Are you alright?"

"Huh?"

"I'll leave you to rest. If I can, I'll drop by tomorrow."

"Do you know Natsu's location?"

"…Yes."

"But you won't tell me."

"I'm sorry. It's not my place… I-"

"-It's fine."

* * *

"Is it true he's gotten his Guinean passport revoked?"

"Brat, why question it?"

"Tell me."

"… It's true. You need to focus on recovery. I told you that before."

"I can't... this is-"

"-I'll help you."

"…"

"You don't believe me."

"… I thought Erza would-"

"-Erza is different. Her position, her name, her career… they were questioned. Now that she's trusted again, she won't do anything that'd jeopardize anyone's safety."

"Come on, it's Natsu we're talking about-"

"—Yeah, the one who Ondrej is chasing after. You think she'd tell you where he is?"

"And you would?"

"Yeah. Not now though. You'll break out the minute I do."

"Why tell me?"

"Because you've helped us a great deal. That's not the way we repay you. You and your friend are the only ones to decide your own paths. What Hibiki has agreed on is fundamentally wrong… that and your friend is a coward."

"You're such a wise man. Why don't you knock some sense into the stuck-up dipshit?"

"I know what you mean."

"Thank you. If you help me… I'll be eternally grateful."

"Don't doubt me. Did they say anything about your release date?"

"You're the third person to ask…"

"Well?"

"Three weeks… more or less, depending on how fast it heals."

"A little bit is left, I'm sure you can take it."

"I'm running out of patience... need to punch Natsu so bad."

"What are you doing? Excuse me? I had to cover your ass out there! Hey man."

"Ah… Hello."

"How's that injury doing?"

"It's okay."

"That's a relief. How much time is left?"

"… Three weeks."

"I have to say I'm impressed of how you changed our Major. Even **I** couldn't do it. Last time I got injured, he lectured me for two hours straight, and then stomped off as he released his tantrum on the poor nurses."

"I've always been special, right?"

"YOU ARE. I can't believe what you and the other guy did with our weapon. That was… memorable."

"That's the least I could do. Give me more time and resources and behold, the biggest villain on earth."

"… if my director listens to any of this, he's not gonna let you go."

"…"

"We don't want that, right?"

"Jeez… I hate this place already."

"You don't hate this place, you miss your friend."

"That too."

"ALRIGHT, enough chit-chat, let's get back to work. You'll be fine on your own, correct?"

"Yes. Thanks for the visit."

"Come on! We won't abandon you. We'll visit again!"

"I didn't complain!"

"You look like it."

"I DON'T."

* * *

 _'I have to see him. I have to. I'll get him, and when I do, I'll **KILL** him.'_

Whenever the gruesome doctor poked and prickled the flesh of his injury at his waist's left side, he would end up gritting his teeth, gripping the sheets so hard it hurt, and perspiration covered his body. But those words he repeated helped him overcome the agony.

Natsu's image, sitting on the bed's side, with a smile on his face, holding the steamy beverage Gray made for him to fight his cold. This visual helped too. That was the last time he had spoken with his stupid friend.

Also, after proving himself as a prodigy (arrogance aside, he IS), the justice agents he loathed at first sight became the best regular company he could ever ask for, and that made it easier. They all felt responsible, including Hibiki Lates. Though, he hasn't heard shit about Gildarts Clive's status. And they refused to answer this question.

Gildarts Clive could go to hell for all he cared. The problem at hand was Natsu.

The first time he got shot by Gildarts Clive, he spent in the hospital a month and a half. This time he was in it for three months. He had minor fractures in his ribs, and a huge gash on the left side of his waist. So after the heartless doctor discharged him, he was over the moon.

He would be allowed to breathe the fresh air outside, but would visit the medical center every other day for the next two weeks to give the wound the medical attention it needs, and that was fine, as long as he sleeps in a normal bed. No nurses disturbing him, no beeps of his heart's status, no needles stuck into the face of his hand.

Freedom.

His mother has taken a long leave from work and stayed with him at the hotel nearby the medical center. Her existence with him the past two months was crucial, and he needed that. A family member or a close friend. Sure, the guys he fought with appreciated him, especially Major _Laxus Dreyar_ , but Ur there, that was different. She was one of the reasons his mental condition was stable.

"Gray. _Gray_."

"Hmm?"

"… Ok." Ur sat next to him, biting her lip, "We… have to talk."

"About?"

"The weather. Typhoons are coming."

"…"

" **You**. What else? You… How are you feeling?"

"What do you mean?" Sometimes his guardian loved to ask dumb questions.

"Gray… you barely eat and you really need to. When I talk to you, it's like I'm not there, or you don't understand."

 _'Hmm…'_

"What are you thinking of? Tell me. It'll help with whatever—shit is going on in there."

"Huh? Sorry, what's that?"

"…" Ur tightened her hold on his hand, her stooped posture noticeable, "God…"

"You're upset…" He didn't like it, "Did I do something? Sorry."

"Tell me please. Please… what's on your mind?" Her fingers removed strands of his black hair to clear the vision to his eyes.

"I was on an airship… I fell off a long… long way, and I thought I died."

His mind did that thing, where it replayed the scene he almost froze to death, black spots tainting his vision as he fell to an assured death. It haunted him in dreams, in awake, and he'd be left speechless, trying too hard to catch his breath. What a chicken. Gray never thought a mere memory will rattle him to the point of almost hyperventilating.

His mother's concerns were valid, but Gray knew he was getting better. He _knew_.

* * *

"Miss, I assure you, what's happening with Gray is perfectly normal. He was pressurized badly, and he has been through an experience-"

"-you don't understand!" Ur almost banged on the doctor's desk.

"I do. The shock is dawning on him, and it's not uncommon. He'll be fine."

"I keep telling her that." News flash: He's 24.

"I will give him anti-anxiety pills which will help him in the coming phase."

* * *

Gray waited until they reached their hotel room after collecting his medicine.

"Can you stop nagging and leave me the hell alone? I told you I'm fine! This time I went because you were freaking out, but you heard! I'm _ok._ "

"DON'T USE THAT TONE WITH ME!" She pointed her fingers at him, throwing her bag on the sofa across the room, "You have no clue about how I feel! Try seeing your own son suffering then come back to me!"

He persisted, "Look Ur. I can't say I'm perfect, but… I'm fine."

She let out a bottled-up heated breath, held her head, then her waist, "What else is bothering you? Other than the 'experience' you've been through? If you don't tell me, I won't know."

"I want pasta… suddenly."

The doorbell rang. Erza and Lucy came in with an ice-cream cake (Gray's favorite), and Lucy questioned, "We heard loud voices. What're you guys doing?"

"Pasta." Ur answered.

* * *

She did art, not pasta. The steamy red sauce, the meat balls and basil leaves topping the spaghetti-WOW. It evoked his taste buds, and the girls praised their visit's timing. Surely, Gray delighted Ur with his request since he didn't eat like normal human beings after that incident.

He made her happy, _and_ he was famished. That recipe was so old school that he scoffed at himself for dreaming about it at a random moment.

Erza and Lucy?

Erza has resumed her Duty at airport security after saving a hell a lot of asses in the mini war, and Captain Lucy had a leave until they disturbed and called her back, which could be at any minute of night or noon. From their constant visits to the hospital, they met his mom and somehow… a weird friendship formed.

Half of the force (Hibiki Lates included) had friendly chats with Ur.

"Thing is…" He chewed on the tender minced meat, "I want to see him more than anything you know."

"I know." Ur smiled as she chewed too.

"We know." Lucy and Erza said simultaneously.

He kicked Lucy's foot under the table when she squealed and faked dreamy eyes.

"But…"

He was scrutinized by the three ladies.

"… never mind."

"NOOOO!" Ur encouraged putting her fork down, "Go on!"

"Do you think he wants to see me? Especially now that my situation is fucked up. What if he learns about it, he freaks out, and..."

They stared at him before they snickered, and Lucy had spaghetti dangling from her mouth as she did.

"… What?" That was _offending_.

"Well…" Erza smirked, "We assumed you're the man of the relationship, but now… we're rethinking it."

They were a bunch of insensitive lady bugs. Lucy's dangling spaghetti jumped back on the plate as she laughed. Ur clapped her hands and gave Erza thumbs up while laughing along with the blonde.

His face drained from emotion before he stood to leave the table. "Cool, goodnight."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Erza dragged him from the hem of his shirt; Ur did the same from the back of his pants that she almost stripped him.

"You've become too sensitive." Erza said.

"Fuck you, you're being too insensitive right now." Gray glared.

"Come on! Sit!"

He snatched the fork and stuffed his mouth.

"You two like each other, right?" Lucy asked.

"I think… I dunno."

"Pardon?" Again, the two girls asked in unison.

Aw shit. He has fallen into the trap.

"I'd assume so."

"Assume? I'm sorry, did I miss something? Why are we in the world of assumptions?"

Ur answered Erza's question, eyes twinkling that she's explaining the history of her useless son and his dumb best friend, "It's complicated. He has never expressed any of his feelings to Natsu, me, or even himself, I believe. I almost swallowed my toothbrush in the bathroom when he told me they made a move on one another. Like, HOW? If you girls hadn't confirmed it, I'd have never believed him."

"What does that mean?" Erza asked as Lucy listened to the mom while chewing pasta.

"They're each other's first love, but they're too cowardly to make a move… and yeah, they continue to live in the emotional and sexual frustration."

"That was such a crappy explanation of the predicament!" Gray objected.

"… What the fuck?" Erza's fork fell.

"You explain it then!" Lucy scoffed, "How does he know that you like him?"

Gray sighed, then rested back against the chair.

"We're both guys and adults. There's no point saying it… he and I can feel it, okay? Back then, the situation was against us, so why say it? That hasn't changed until now."

"Wow…" Erza held a glass of water, "This is… heavy. This is, Wow."

"Oh gosh. Oh gosh, oh gosh, how I took Loke's confessions for granted, and made fun of them... oh gosh, I feel like a criminal." Lucy held her temples, "Forgive me, Loke."

Erza nodded, "You're a criminal."

"I wanna hug Natsu right now…" A depressed aura covered Lucy, "Poor guy… he endured a lot of heart ache. Good thing he vanished from your life."

"…" Gray glared at her, "I'm aware the lack of communication between us is a problem, but it's not like I could throw irresponsible confessions in the air, ok?"

"So you're a coward." Erza concluded, "You were a coward then, and a coward now."

"… What?"

"When will you make up your mind and confess? When he gets married for real?"

 _'Huh…'_

The mere thought of Natsu with someone else electrocuted his heart, but marriage…? That was a deadly gunshot.

"That's-"

Ur interfered, "You think he cares if your situation is fucked up? You're blind, haven't you seen the way he looks at you? You're so lucky, yet, your insecurities are blinding you."

His mother always liked to cheer him up, "Ur. We're-"

"—don't you dare. We saw that too. He's so head over heels for you that it's sickening." Lucy hushed him, "Reverse your roles. If Natsu was the one with the mental issues, what would you do? Would you freak out or think he's not good enough for you?"

"Shut up. Are you crazy? Who would-"

"-See?" The ladies agreed with Lucy with their excessive nodding, "These imaginary feelings you're talking about need to solidify, alright? You lost him once, and who knows? Maybe he's with someone right now. And let's be soooooooo realistic for a moment, ok? If you're back in his life, why would he abandon a person who shows how much he likes him for you? What are you offering him?"

"Wait a minute-wait." Gray chuckled, nervousness creeping up to his voice. He laid his back on the dining chair and swallowed the rest of the pasta. _Man, not again._

Post the tough incident three months ago, his breathing remained unstable and came close to minor hyperventilation sessions whenever he felt anxious, nervous, or any emotion that stressed him. Not serious, but freaking annoying, because it showed what he was feeling.

"Are you on my side or against it?"

Ur grumbled and let go of her food to stab him with a first-class glare, "Stop being such a slimy bastard. I've said the same thing a million times in the past, and Lucy repeating it proves it's common freaking sense. Doesn't matter if you're a guy, a girl, an alien, we all feel insecure in our relationships and we need that assurance. I'm not only talking about Natsu. You're insecure about this relationship too, and you need the assurance he's in love with you as much as you're with him. After all these years, I'll be a grumpy ass bitch if you discover he wasn't. I'll shoot you first, then him."

It was his turn to be a grumpy ass bitch, "I thought Lucy said he's head over heels for me."

The three ladies slapped their foreheads. Erza patted Lucy's shoulder and sighed.

"He's… not getting it." Erza said.

"WE _KNOW_." Lucy growled, emphasizing her point with her two hands on the table waving around, "Don't YOU wanna know?"

"You said there's no such thing as invisible, so how do you know?"

Lucy muffled a scream, "Do I have my rifle here somewhere? PLEASE TELL ME I DO!"

"It's in the car." Erza stood and snatched the car keys, "I'll go bring it."

"…" Gray rubbed the back of his head, "Shut up, I'm messing with you, fuck. You officers of the law are impossible."

"Oh don't you dare talk about who's impossible!" It was Lucy's turn to kick his leg under the table.

"I get it." Gray leaned forward as the abstract painting of pink on the wall distracted him for minutes, "He's the life of me, honestly. I'm suffocated when he's not around and I miss him and wanna be with him—and there's just a ton of other things, and you're right, I wasn't brave enough to spill my guts. Although I have seen death, this is still harder."

"Oooooh. Progress!" Ur rubbed his back, "Ladies, he finally admitted it for himself AND others! BANZAI!"

Lucy and Erza had a large sweat drop falling over their heads, "Greaaat. Now, tell him the same thing. It's not so difficult; learn a thing or two from Loke." Lucy said.

He didn't state that this was Natsu's fault partially, since the fucker never did the same for him, but he treasured his life because then Erza will get the rifle for real.

Speaking with the major was his top priority the day after. Although he believed he wasn't good enough with his predicament, he was selfish to want Natsu to know how much he likes him.

Wow, a random chat can change a lot.

* * *

"A week of recovery is still ahead. Our agreement was different."

Gray nodded. Their agreement terms stated full recovery, but he fascinated himself and others when he waited two months and some before he goes: _Fuck the agreement_.

"But you aren't giving me a chance to refuse."

"Exactly."

It turned out, Major Laxus and the other militants he fought with weren't part of the Blue Pegasus base. Even _Loke_. They were like Erza Scarlet who's originally based in airport security. The others were tiny Erzas. That's right. Laxus's team belongs to SAT.

So when uptight Major Laxus Dreyar wasn't busy leading and operating full-blown wars, he sat in his neat office, sipping on green tea with an unclenched jaw, reviewing reports, waiting for his next mission. As Gray shot the Rubik's cube on the Agar wooden office-table an analyzing gaze, the Major shot him the same, before he rested his back on the grand executive chair.

Uffff, his waist hurt.

"Your friend lives in Georgia."

That info needed to sink in as Gray made a funny face that said: _Horseshit info alert._

"Right under the Soviet Federative Socialist Republic." Major Laxus assured him with a stoic face that said: _Dead serious here baby._

What was in Natsu's head? A brain, or a box of Jelly-cola? So he tried Africa the first time, and when it didn't work out, he banished himself from Japan, all the way next to Russia? When they fucking told him Natsu had left Japan's premises, he thought: He might be in Hawaii because that's so bright, cheerful, and so Natsu-like.

He went to the Caucasus Mountains of cold? Was he insane?

"Quirky choice," The Major tapped on the table, "But well. That's what he wants."

"That's a polite way of putting it. I think my friend has reached a higher level of insanity."

"Laxus, I didn't understand your ballistic-"

Lieutenant Freed Justine froze at Laxus's office doorstep, exchanging stares with Gray from a six meters distance. As usual, Freed's light aura collided with Laxus's uptight one in the spacious, monotone themed office, and it helped making it brighter.

He rubbed the back of his Mohawk green filaments of trimmed hair, chuckling, "Gray, I didn't see you coming into here. Apologies for the interruption."

"Nah. It's fine. Is the Major giving you a hard time?" Gray grinned while noticing Laxus's eye-brow raising.

"The usual, right?"

"I'm still here," Laxus cleared his throat, "Wanna come in?"

Freed shrugged, "If it's personal-"

"-Come in. Sit."

Lieutenant Freed Justine and Major Laxus resembled General Hibiki Lates and the Ambassador Jellal Fernandes. Each badass boss had a badass sidekick who's also a dear friend. Although in the Major's situation, Freed's existence felt crucial.

Freed kept him in check, made him revise his extreme decisions without interfering too much with his authority extension. And for a hella weird reason, Laxus let him in. And Laxus doesn't let anyone in.

Except that recently, he let Gray in.

Freed sat opposite to Gray and laid the papers he had on the desk.

"Gray's ready to travel to Georgia." The Major rotated the seat sideways and earned a hum from Freed.

Freed's eyebrow raised in an inquiring fashion, "Isn't the Scarlet Titania back on the gates?"

"She is." Laxus sighed.

"Guys, what are you saying?"

Laxus shared a knowing look with Freed then explained, "Let's say you're all packed up, ready to go. You're travelling from Narita's international Airport, or any other terminal, you'll find yourself wrapped up in aviation security… because Erza wouldn't let you fly anywhere unless the destination is within Japan."

It was a miracle he didn't burst or fume. All credit goes to the pain killers and how they relax you.

Ok, breeeeeeeathe.

"The General's blackmailing her? Seriously?"

The Major didn't scoff, but Gray heard his need to, "No, she's doing her job."

"But… we had this conversation yesterday and she-"

"-doesn't matter. She won't let you past the first checkpoint. She wants you to find a way to do it."

"…" Gray liked Erza, but then he wasn't sure.

"I've been monitoring your condition in the Medical Center for more than a month, and the doctor confirmed you're on anxiety pills."

"Yeah… I'm getting better… slowly though."

"Your condition must worsen."

"… An elaboration will be nice."

Laxus and Freed smiled.

"Let's push the General to the edge."

"…Hai?"

* * *

 **Tokyo, Japan – 11:45 AM – Johohonbu (Defense Intelligence Headquarters)**

* * *

A card hung just before Gray's waist, bearing the words: "VISITOR'S PASS – GRAY FULLBUSTER". He, fresh out of recovery Loke, Lucy, and Major Laxus waited in a vast reception hall filled with high heels echo on the polished marble floor, and various elevator ringtones.

He has heard about Johohonbu from different parties, being there in person felt unreal. The place resembled a God-owned station, a space that's not for plain humans.

Strip lights penetrated bulky timber blocks. These fascinating cuts of timber joined with glazing, aluminum structures and trusses in a **triple** height volume that rendered him and his worries inane compared to the formally dressed people rushing on multiple escalators.

Hibiki Lates was so goddamn nice to allocate a slot for them to meet. If it wasn't for Gray's high-profile company, which is _the_ Major, the pressure would have been tremendous.

Major Laxus's Special Assault building was grand, but this? This instigated his hyperventilation problem.

"Major!"

Gray whipped his focus from the bubble chandeliers to Jellal Fernandes.

Lucy greeted the ambassador with stuttering words and nervous bows. After bowing then shaking hands with Gray, the ambassador smiled and pulled him into a hug.

"Nice to see you in one piece, you crazy."

Gray allowed himself to accept the tough pat on his back from the ambassador, and the chuckles of the rest. And the hug was unexpectedly warm, it made him flushed for seconds.

"Likewise. You're walking." Gray returned the tough back pat, both pulling away and laughing off their internal injuries and struggles the past months.

The Major smirked, "To see you here, luck must be on our side."

"… I'm flattered." Jellal hugged his blue folder of documents, "I'm flying back to NYC, came to say goodbye. How can I be of service?"

The ambassador wanted to be of service… Gray had his doubts about Jellal's nationality, but whatever country had him, they were fortunate.

Laxus Dreyar used Jellal Fernandes as an ally, and the ambassador didn't disappoint Laxus's expectations. Jellal proved to be less strict than Hibiki with public affairs, and he was one of those special people Gray was honored to meet and interact with on a personal level.

After formulating a conspiracy with no guilt in his belly, the squad of five people walked to Hibiki's office, floor 9.

Upon seeing the blue-haired ambassador, the pen in Hibiki's hands fell, and he jolted from his seat.

"What are you doing here?"

So that's where Levy McGarden _worked_. She bowed, and excused herself out, knowing what kind of topic they'd discuss from her conversation with Gray on the phone the day before.

What a _coward_.

"That's a big office…" Gray's comment was a slow muse, winking at Levy who hurried to exit.

Hibiki's office was even bigger than Laxus's (And Laxus's office was fucking grand). His place flowed well with the timber and aluminum language of the building, _and_ lots of day light.

"We want you to do us a favor." Jellal replied.

"I have a good idea since Gray's here." Hibiki sighed as he ushered them to sit on the 12-seat meeting table. They each took their seats, the last one being Hibiki said, "Jellal, lo siento in advance. No can do. Anything but that, and you know how I'd give up my life for you."

Gray wanted to stuff Hibiki Lates in the paper shredder so bad. In order for their conspiracy to work, he had to control his facial expressions and body language like he never did before. Lucy had placed her hand on his clenched fist under the meeting table to assure him everything was gonna be fine.

 _Patience._

"Of all things, Hibiki-san, I didn't expect you'd neglect a sensitive subject."

Laxus passed Hibiki a piece of an officially signed report, "I'm sure you're aware of this."

Hibiki flipped the pages, understanding, "It's severe, I know. I Kind of expected this to happen after seeing him multiple times the past month."

The report was Gray's medical record in KMC.

"He's getting worse and you can't do this anymore. It's not our place to interfere, Hibiki-san," The ambassador held the report and waved it around, "His situation comprises of anxiety and light depression. Later on, it'll be severe depression, and you're aware of what follows."

 _Suicide._

Hibiki leaned back, fingers tapping on the table.

"But there's hope for him left. He has one wish. You damn well can't deny him that."

"This is the worst way we let him end after all what he did to help." Loke nodded.

"Guys, aside from the emotional extortion you're trying to achieve, not really." Hibiki lectured them, "It's to have him targeted his entire life. You have seen for yourselves the true colors of señor Ondrej. Getting Gray reunited with his friend is a catastrophe cocktail. He's safer this way."

"Do you know what is your worst trait?" The Major interjected, and _'what's the worst?'_ game begins "You think too much even when the situation doesn't demand it. We have had worse enemies and they're all caged. Ondrej Jeremiah isn't exceptional. You're using him as an excuse not to break a promise, fine we understand. But did you make the right one?"

"Major-"

"-Guys…" Gray cut in, face painted in pale terror, "There's… a chopper, outside…"

Their gazes followed Gray's pointed finger, Loke nodding, "There are visitors who come like that all the time."

"It's close." His arm shook, "Does it have to be close?"

The chopper's whirring heightened as it closed in on the building to land.

"Can you stop it? Can anyone stop it?"

"What's wrong?" Lucy was alarmed as Gray shook, "It's just a visitor's heli."

But that didn't sooth Gray. His breathing sped, eyes never leaving the chopper. When it was five meters away from the building and the 9th floor in seconds, he jerked to his feet, chair falling behind him, as he retreated to the wall, skin turning whiter.

"Who the hell is navigating this?!" Hibiki jolted standing with the others, "They don't do that! No one does that!"

The Major was the first to sit and cross he legs and arms, "General." His tone commanded Hibiki to direct his attention towards the actual problem.

That Gray was terrorized to death, glued to the wall of his office.

"I hope you recognize the criticality. There's no point being stubborn because it'll only backfire. You'll regret it for life, and then the guilt will consume you till it leaves your heart charred and hopeless."

Hibiki Lates gritted his teeth, visibly resigning, "You all didn't come for negotiations, am I right?"

"Nope. We came here for your cooperation. We're sending him on his way to recovery and nothing, not even you, will stand in the way." The Major stated.

* * *

"Lieutenant, well-done. Excelente!"

Gray displayed a triumphant grin. This was the coolest shit he has done in his life, and Vance doesn't measure up to this.

Freed Justine, the chopper's pilot, shrugged as they clanked their soda glasses. They exited Hibiki's office and now, in a restaurant 10 kilometers away, they were having lunch and celebrating their crushing victory against the General.

"Gray, were you scared for real?" Loke questioned, not avoiding "The Gray's mental state" subject like others, and he appreciated Loke's transparency. After all, they shared an experience together. And Loke saved his life so he accepted uncovering his soul for this guy.

"I was. Not so horridly as you guys saw, but I can't deny it. It's difficult now."

Jellal Fernandes chewed slower, dejection written all over his face.

"I'm fine. Getting better. I appreciate what you've done for me, all of you. The doctor too. I thought she was torturing me for her own joy."

Lucy laughed as she sliced through her creamy chicken breast, "She's like that with everybody. But issuing a forged medical report for your comfort, means that she has taking a liking to you."

"Tough love." Gray grunted as he wiped his mouth, "Major-"

"-This is why I didn't want to help you." Laxus heavily sighed, drinking his soda.

They chuckled as Gray pouted.

"You don't even know what I'm gonna say."

"I'm not an idiot. You'll go through a lengthy gratitude showing talk, and I don't need it. Save it. You got what you should own, we did nothing. You helped protecting us, so this—hm, it doesn't measure up to what you have done."

Gray admits, his breath was taken for a minute. How lucky was he to have met all those people and made friends with them?

"Thanks. I really appreciate it. We haven't started on good terms, but... I'm glad we came through, I'm glad to have known you."

Loke snickered, "That sounds like a love confession. I thought you were in love with Natsu."

Loke wished to go back to the hospital where he should lie in a coma for several days, yet again.

* * *

Gray closed his suitcase for the seventh time.

"Did we forget anything?" Ur asked while pacing around the room.

"Can we please leave?" Gray said between checking out his watch and a constant shifting on his feet, "You and your paranoia."

Loke's leave from the base extended for three more weeks because of his medical situation. So what happened to the poor bastard? Major Laxus Dreyar assigned him to babysit Gray on his small trip, and he accepted with nothing better to do. He had one assignment: Guard the civilians on their way back to Japan.

Since Loke bruised his own ass saving Gray's life, their relationship has strengthened. If three months ago Gray knew about it, he'd have shot offensive glares to whoever claimed that fact. But, here we are, what a strange world. Sergeant Loke leaned on the exquisite black Infiniti and flirted with a foreigner lady, looking handsome in his black coat. Why don't you give it a rest buddy? Did Lucy take this guy's confessions seriously? The girl needs to reconsider.

Loke dropped Ur at her terminal where they said their goodbyes. She was going back to Kyoto, and he was glad to get rid of her nagging company sooner than he had expected. There comes a point in every man's life where he loves his mom, but then, they love breathing oxygen more.

"So you'll do this thing for me?" He hugged her.

"You leave it to me and go get him."

"Perfect. Not too tight, not… too tight."

"Are you okay?" She pulled, guilt lacing her voice.

"All good."

He held his side in pain as he headed out the terminal to ride with Loke.

"Are you going to last at this rate?" Loke shook his head as they finished their flight check-in procedures.

His doctor's instructions were to be in KMC as soon as he lands in Japan, or he risks an infection that leads to complications. When Gray answered with nothing but a strained face, Loke retorted, "Cool."

Georgia's Visa procedures were convenient for Gray. He breathed when they reached their terminal and as they checked in, Gray was in for a surprise.

"What's this?" Gray took off his sunglasses and laughed, "What… don't you girls have jobs?"

"So rude…" In her formal skirt and blouse uniform, Erza's high heels added more to her bossiness. His comment made her eyebrow twitch, and that wasn't a good sign.

Levy bowed, then ran behind Erza, "So the big guy came through."

"Let's say I'm glad I didn't have to fake suicide."

"Remember to be more transparent with your boyfriend this time." Erza instructed.

Since Lucy had nothing to brag about, she bragged her best friend's capabilities, "Otherwise, Erza can always stop the flight."

"Ladies, don't be hard on him now." Loke defended.

"Shut up you!" The three girls yelled in his face.

Gray has faced death before. Meeting the expectations of those girls was scarier.

"I'll do my best…"

Erza helped Loke completing travel procedures in no time. As Gray walked into the transparent concourse, he took a minute to stop.

Memories of his teenage days manifested on the glazing. When they laughed together, when they fought against one another, when looks of longing were stolen, and that terrible night of separation. He wanted to thank Ondrej. If it wasn't for him, they wouldn't have crossed paths, and the hole in his heart would've expanded, tormenting him for life.

"Sir? Boarding pass?"

This time… being a coward wasn't an option.

* * *

 **Tbilisi, Georgia – 5:43PM – Daniel Avto Street**

* * *

The love triangle. Gray has a brand-new definition for it.

The chocolate triangle, the cherry syrup triangle, and the apricot glazed triangle, all next to each other behind that bakery's glazing.

Now that, is love.

"I think I'm gonna change the plan and live here with Natsu."

"Why not? Place's cheap, you can find lots of brainless jobs, and they celebrate all year around. Suits you both."

"Right? I know. Why didn't we book a one-way ticket again?"

Loke's fist bumped against Gray's shoulder, "Hurry and pick. I'm a Sergeant… stop downgrading me."

"Will standing next to a cinnamon roll downgrade your masculinity? If that's the case, don't come near the strawberry croissant, you may never come back."

Loke rolled his eyes and checked his phone.

"It's a mystery Natsu's able to tolerate your company... let alone be in love with it."

"Don't be so jealous now. I thought we went over this."

"Hurry."

"Right… Oji-san, two cinnamon rolls, two apricot triangles, and the meat pie."

The baker behind the display stared, baffled.

"Shit. Mr. Translator?" Gray tapped Loke's shoulder, "Please?"

Loke translated Gray's Japanese gibberish to Georgian. The baker relaxed, nodded and hurried to prepare their order.

Gray gave him a thumbs up, "Thanks. It's convenient to have you around."

"Don't mention it, asshole."

"Which apartment again? I forgot."

"You've stood next to those triangles for a long time… I'll tell you when we're outside so that you're less brain washed."

Gray grunted, received his goods with eagerness, and left with Loke to the building next to the bakery.

"Dude, I need to consider living here."

"Stop the gay tourist act and listen up."

"Go ahead." Gray munched on one of the cinnamon rolls.

"The Ap-"

"-Apollo building, I got that first time."

"… third floor, 301."

"Perfect."

"When both of you get your shit together, contact me. Here's the key."

Loke waved at Gray as he drove his rented car into the city. The box of pastries occupied Gray's hands as he watched the car disappear.

Purple and orange nostalgic colors painted Tbilisi's sky as the sun bid the city adieu. Gray headed with a mouthful of cinnamon pastry to the remarkable old Arminian building. He earned looks of bewilderment because he was a foreigner, he had a suitcase, and he munched on a cinnamon roll in public.

Gray waited for the elevator's island to descend. The large steel grill door screeched open, and he entered with a bunch of native people. One started talking to him in Georgian and he understood nothing. He regretted not learning the language's basics. In his defense, his mind was busy with evil schemes of retrieving his best friend.

He used the key Loke gave him to enter Natsu's apartment.

Careful not to hit the mini-tower of sealed boxes next to the desk, he tiptoed around the cloths thrown on the floor, and why did the hamper exist underneath that window if the clothes were thrown around... same goes for the trash basket.

There was nothing right about that apartment except for the double window on top of the double size bed. The view rendering the city below was exhilarating, it distracted him from the eyesore of the well-organized room.

When he retreated to lock the door, his foot hit an open drawer. That shit could increase Gray's blood pressure. He grumbled and kicked the drawer shut and walked. Curiosity got the better of him so he retreated and checked out the chest of drawers' contents.

Many items were interesting; however, a silvery gun in the second drawer snatched Gray's attention.

 _Ok, dangerous stuff._ He pretended he saw nothing and moved on to close the door, but he couldn't because it opened. The pink haired appeared, his scarf wrapped well around his neck. He moved with a downcast gaze to take his shoes off.

Then their eyes met.

Then Natsu tripped on his shoes, fell, and hit his head against the door.

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** Next week, Wednesday, 10th June.

Hey Guys!

This chapter was released earlier a day because tommorow, I have a lot of work coming up. So I didn't wanna postpone it.

 **Special thanks to:** deboome (Thank you! I know, Gray did things he shouldn't have done, but meh. Story development needs it hahaha), Kori No Koibito (Then I'll join you and be crazy too. I love interesting relationships between adults and kids... i know how that sounds... I mean ignore it, but i think it IS cute.), JO (He did! Gray's always surprising I love him.)

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that. AND stay safe, stay home.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	22. Chapter 22

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content **.**

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** T **w** e **n** t **y** T **w** o **O.** o **.O**

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait, you got it wrong…" Gray cursed the cinnamon roll in his hand, fucking shit downgraded him to a food thief, "This is mine. I got it from the bakery, I swear."

Gray believed ten replicas of him existed because Natsu's posture shifted to stone. He hasn't raised himself from the floor. His eyes were puffy and continued to widen as he focused on Gray's presence in his living space that canceled his voice.

When he snapped out of it, his ears reddened, and he retreated in a slow pace. As soon as he reached the door, he bolted to escape the apartment.

Ohhhhh no you don't.

Gray dragged Natsu by his long scarf, choking the amazing runner, but preventing him from disappearing again.

"Don't. Even. Think. About it." Gray warned as Natsu coughed, holding his knees, "You offend me."

Natsu leapt to the door with all his strength, but Gray kicked it shut. In the end, he faced a closed door, and Gray behind his back like a devil.

He banged his fist on the door and rested his forehead against it, panting as if he has just returned from a marathon.

"No. No!"

"Dude, you're totally misunderstanding this! I'm neither a rapist, nor a burglar, so let's-"

"Shut up! What the fuck…?! I'm gonna strangle that fucker!"

Natsu stormed to his room, past Gray. As long as he was away from the door, it was fine, so he took his sweet time walking up to the double-size bed with the messy navy covers. It was time to try the tempting triangles of sweet love. Apricot or strawberry though?

"Come on, come on, come on!" Natsu stomped back and forth in the room, keeping his phone close to his flushed ear, "Pick up! Pick it up!"

"Wanna try one of these? They're too AWESOME!" Unlike the panicky pink-haired, Gray chilled with the box of pastries.

 _'Wow. That is a wonderful patisserie… They paid attention to the sugar taste too…'_

" **You know what? You're** **so full of shit! We've had a deal! How could you do that?!** "

At Natsu's deafening yell, Gray felt bad for Hibiki. Anyway, he deserved it for hiding Natsu's location, and for agreeing to Natsu's stupid suggestions. Eat shit Hibiki, eat lots of shit.

"I'm gonna devour them all you know." Gray loved the apricot triangles. LOVED.

"You told me that before! Is it because you're the government that you can easily screw me over?! I trusted you! And YOU told me it was for the best! We've had a mutual understanding; how the hell… did you do that? I can sue you for this!"

Clearly, Natsu wasn't up for trying sweets. Guess what? His fucking loss.

 _'Cool. More for me...'_

"Excuse me?! Who the hell will want to see you again?! CALM DOWN?!"

He fulfilled his cravings and stretched with a smile on his face. It was time to work. He fetched the big empty suitcase he brought along, went back to the room, and cringed at Natsu's loudness. He opened the medium size beige closet and started stuffing Natsu's belongings into the suitcase.

 _'Perfect, we'll be done in ten minutes.'_

"What the hell are you doing?!" Natsu shouted behind him, "NOT YOU! FUCKER, STOP!"

"Pants done. PJs done. Shirts… shirts…"

"Shit!" Natsu hung up and dragged Gray away from the closet, throwing him off to the other end of the room, "What are you doing?!"

Gray balanced himself, "Taking you back to Narita."

"God! Do you think I'm gonna go along with it?!"

"Ah, yes."

Poor Natsu, Gray saw the fumes ascending above him.

" **Think again**! Listen, listen to me now!" Natsu's hand did a sharp air-chop, "I appreciate that you have come all the way here, I do! But it's never gonna work between us! I accepted it, and you should too!"

"What's this? You sound like a crappy interviewer who's not giving a persistent employee the job." Gray munched on his pastry.

"Really, now isn't the time for your-" Natsu's cheeks flushed.

"How could you abandon me like that? Do you know how _hurtful_ it was?"

"Exactly! I'm a cruel piece of shit! So-" Natsu fetched Gray's handbag, the bakery's box, and handed it to him, "-leave and never look back! You're better off this way, trust me."

Gray placed his stuff on the arm-chair and walked to the closet. Something that rigged Natsu with irritation.

"If you fucking touch my things-"

"-and that lovely shirt is going there."

" **Gray**!" Natsu yelled and threw the bakery's box at him. Gray dodged both of the box, and Natsu's punch, which collided with the wooden closet.

The boy squirmed, opening and closing his abused fist.

"Look." Gray started, "You're coming with me to Narita tomorrow."

" **I decided I'll forget about you! I decided I won't see you again… why...** "

"So? That's stupid and has nothing to do with me. If anything, I should beat the shit out of you."

Natsu glared, but Gray wasn't threatened since Natsu held his pained fist like a kicked dog.

"This is for your own-"

"-no one said you're my mother. Heck, my mother didn't object." He approached Natsu, who glued his back to the closet. Gray held the boy's abused hand and looked straight into the other's freaked out green eyes.

"You know… there's a method used in my profession to analyze any problem. You have to ask the five whys."

"Wha-?"

"Why're we in this situation?"

Natsu shoved Gray's hand off, "Because I acted like a good friend and called a sociopath to come and destroy us and hundreds of other soldiers as a bonus! Wake up, moron!"

"… Cool. Why did you do that?"

"-the hell?!"

"-Because he was your lover. But why? Because you met him. Why's that? cause you went to Guinea, why? 'cause I ignored your feelings for me, crushed them, and didn't have the balls to clarify things between us."

Natsu faced a breathing difficulty.

"It's all on me. If I… hadn't abandoned you years ago, we wouldn't have gone through this bullshit. It's not you, and it's not anyone else."

"Stop…"

"I need you. Even if you tell me you don't, say it all you want… I don't care. I came here to take you with me and you're not gonna change that."

Natsu's voice was reduced to split whispers, "This… is so hard for me. You're making it… so so hard… you don't understand shit. And you're being selfish!"

"Let me understand then." Gray moved closer, his words coming out gentler than he intended. Hearing rejection wasn't what he came for.

"Ondrej isn't done yet! If he comes for me again, then you'd be-"

"-that doesn't matter, I'm not gonna lose you because of him-"

"-stubborn bastard-"

"-I'm not gonna lose you because of him."

"Th-there are things about me which has changed! I'm not like what I used to be back then and you've seen it-"

"-I don't mind." Past and present Natsu, Gray liked both. They were stupid, impulsive, and cheerful for no good reason, "I don't think there's much difference. Maybe the weird language… but it's not like I haven't changed either… we can't do anything about it."

Natsu opened his mouth to talk, but he had enough. Gray pulled Natsu's shoulders towards him.

"Stop. Thinking. Forget everything and come with me."

Natsu froze, and has he heard him at all? He imagined a light shiver underneath his fingers, and couldn't pinpoint what he said wrong.

"… Say something."

Natsu pushed Gray off and stepped out of his bubble, as if protecting himself against it.

"What's with you?! I can't believe how much of an asshole you're being right now." Before Natsu got far, Gray held his arm, with no intention of letting go.

Karma. That was karma. Because he has hurt Natsu plenty. He was collecting the results, and he hated it. His resolve to reconnect with Natsu was strong, but the rejection he faced crumbled his confidence to pull off that simple task.

His grip loosened around the boy's arm and was more than ready to let go… forever.

 _"Stop thinking. Forget everything and come with me_..." Natsu repeated his words earlier with deep red coloring his cheeks and ears, "How did you know?"

Gray whispered, "What…?"

Natsu tried to speak, and Gray was giving him the time to do it, but it irked him.

"That…" Natsu chuckled, but also cracked.

"I pushed too much-"

"-you've always…" Natsu's speech fought against his harsh intakes of breaths, "Said that… in my dreams… my wildest fantasies during college..."

That revelation burned Gray's head, warmed his blood, and above all, his heart needed medical attention because it would explode out of his chest and bounce all around.

 _'That fucker… he wants to kill me!'_

"You're not fair..." Natsu pulled his arm out of Gray's grip.

Please, that was bullshit.

"Then stick around with me more. Maybe you'll get to hear more… if it makes you happy."

"And if you're hurt because of me, again, how can I be happy?" Natsu trembled, "You-you left once. You left for me. Because it was the right thing to do, right? Why can't you let me do the same? This is the right thing for me to do too!"

"Natsu, I was a fucking idiot, and a coward who chose not to fight back for what we—had. I'm not your benchmark for this kinda shit!" Gray closed the space between their feet, "Don't make the same mistake."

"Then what?! Be with you and get you killed for real this time?"

When Natsu wore his stubbornness suit, he was irritating. But Gray understood him. He lived the same situation years ago, and he knew that stupid mindset.

"Nothing's gonna happen. If Hibiki wasn't certain that this," Gray pointed between them, "Will work, he wouldn't have let me step a foot outside Japan. Major Laxus Dreyar too-"

"-That asshole?"

"He's not an asshole, but that's not the point." Gray didn't want to pull at his hair, "You're worrying about this way too much. And let's assume your concerns are valid, I'm not gonna live a minute more without you, and you won't too. Understood?"

"Gray-"

"-Understood?"

The pink haired grumbled and searched for support against Gray's argument.

"Now, come here. To where you belong." Gray opened his arms and smirked at the Natsu's flushed cheeks.

"I'm not your fucking dog."

"What's the matter with dogs? They're so fucking cute!" Gray wrapped his arms around the boy, not waiting for long.

Natsu hugged him back, reluctant, "You'll regret this for the rest of your life."

"You're wrong. I'd regret it if I let you go. Like I did all those years. You asked me once to stay, and that's what I'm doing. Staying."

When the vanilla and fresh sea breeze settled in his senses, he felt like he was home and safe.

"I missed you, idiot."

Natsu melted at his words. He smiled and pulled him closer. "You didn't cheat on me, did you?"

"No. I didn't…"

"Good boy."

* * *

" _My dog has died_ is written all over your face. Is this how you reward me for chasing your ass? Lighten up, will you? Jeez, you're hurting me, ouch."

Gray's long shower cleaned the fatigue of the 24 hour journey and soothed his injury's pain. Both decided they needed food, a late dinner. While Gray skipped on the pavement, the pink haired shunned him, gloved hands in the brown jacket pockets.

Natsu guided them to the Georgian restaurant he was familiar with, two buildings far from the Apollo building Apartments. By the law of 'more experience', he also ordered the food because Gray was in a quandary when it came to the menu, plus, he trusted Natsu's food-related hunch.

"Why tomorrow? That's very rushed…" Natsu removed his gloves and faced Gray, "Packing takes time, you know."

"I know." How can he explain this? "It's not up to me. I have to be in Narita tomorrow. Specifically, KMC. Since I don't trust that you'll follow, you have to come with me."

"KMC? Is that thing still in a bad shape?" Natsu said.

 _'Shit, what else does he know?'_

That topic in the back of his head needed unfolding. Did Natsu know about his mental problem? Was this a good time for him to bring it up?

 _'Not really. Not before dinner.'_

That was his other self, the scared one. The pussy one. Natsu needed to know. And before Gray puts them together, as in _together_.

"You know." Gray stated.

"If I don't know, who will?" Natsu sighed, "Does it still hurt?"

"Ahhhhhhh, well," Gray smiled, "Nope."

"Liar."

"I'm okay. You're here now."

Natsu chuckled, pretending to fumble with the table accessories, "Smooth. Real smooth. So tonight we pack and sleep for like two hours?"

"Probably."

"Just great."

* * *

Gray jolted from sleep, pained as if a freight train had collided with his feeble body and tossed it away from the track. Fuck, FUCK. That was _horrible_. His hard pants quickened as he sat, one hand over his abdomen, while cold sweat covered his bare upper half.

Sleeping together on a tight double-size bed with Natsu has put him at a disadvantage. His friend stirred, but couldn't open his eyes yet.

"Bad dream?" Natsu landed one tough pat on Gray's back and yawned as he sat. He was stinking of sleep, eyes still shut.

"Yeah… very, terrible." There was no point denying.

"Mmmm." Natsu got up and came back with a glass of water. His voice was smudged with sleep as he handed it to him, "Here."

"Thanks."

When Natsu pulled the covers over him to continue his slumber, Gray removed them and patted his arm, "We need to talk."

"Do we?" Natsu hoped 'yes' won't be the answer.

"Yes, we really do."

* * *

God that was hard. Wearing nothing but sweatpants, Gray sat on the bed, crinkles under his eyes, a bit of sweat, and a sprinkle of raw terror. He was drained, sleep loomed around him, but this? This was important. This, he needed to clear.

Anyway, if he wanted to sleep, it won't be that easy. The same thing would happen again.

Natsu rested in the armchair, disoriented and smelling of sleep that Gray felt guilty. They relied on the moon and building signage outside for light, which eased Gray's tension.

"Uhm," He rubbed his hands together, "I… I felt everyone depended on me to make things work, and… I made a stupid mistake, and fell a long way, back then."

Natsu nodded, understanding what he hinted at.

"I thought I died, but I didn't, I know. I can't help but to see myself stuck in that situation over and over, the fear increasing each time." His voice wasn't as strong as he wanted it to be and it sucked, "I… have issues-big mental issues, I'm fucked up, shit-"

"-Yeah. I saw your medical reports." Natsu rubbed his right eye, then yawned.

Gray froze, "… you _what_?"

"Uh-huh. Is this important? Dude, let's just go back to sleep-"

"-If you knew, why the fuck didn't you say anything? **Why are you going along with this fucking plan?** "

His outburst knocked Natsu awake.

Why… was it sympathy? Pity? Guilt? Why did Natsu accept returning to Japan with him? And why the fuck did Hibiki leak his medical status without asking the patient himself?!

Natsu scratched the scar on his neck lightly. In the two minutes his friend hasn't spoken, Gray couldn't breathe. Nervously, he wiped his feverish forehead.

 _'Please… say something… Oh god!'_

Why was this freaking him out? He couldn't tell if this was freaking him out, or the visual remnants of the nightmare. It was dark, but the subtle neon lights of pink and orange showed Natsu getting closer. Even with the light's absence, he would recognize Natsu from his warmth.

Natsu was all what Gray focused on. His steps, his pause, the small groan Natsu thought he was concealing. Three men raved before the pub under their apartment, a girl busted out laughing, two cars honked, but none mattered.

Natsu was the sole living thing. Natsu was… Natsu was…

Please… Natsu.

Natsu exhaled, thinking Gray wouldn't hear it. His cozy touch on Gray's moist cheeks lingered before Natsu's mouth greeted his own.

 _'Huh…?'_

His back fell against the dampness of the sheets, where he had his nightmare. Soon, the weight of his friend's perfect body settled on him, and even if he loved it, his mind was all what, why, who, and what?

The pink color of his face darkened at the honey vanilla taste and deepening of the series of kisses they exchanged. Though they haven't kissed a lot, their lips knew how and where to go.

Gray tapped on Natsu's chest until their noses were a breath apart.

"Natsu, what…"

A small glare came his way. He couldn't see Natsu clearly, but was certain his face was red. That's how hot it felt. Shit, he craved kissing him already.

"Sometimes… I wished terrible stuff happened to you so you lose your head's toughness… stubbornness, memories. Then I come along, convince you we're lovers—laugh the evil laugh and make you mine. Trust me, you're the man anyone would want for their body, not the content."

Should he feel happy or frightened as fuck? That bastard wished for _what?_

Natsu faked the anger tone. The slight stutter gave him away. The weight pressed more into him, exposing their growing desires between their legs.

"I'm not interested in anything… happening here." Natsu's hand dug into Gray's black hair, "Not even one bit."

Gray's lower lip felt the butterfly touch of Natsu's tongue. There was one at his neck, his left ear, his abs, then around his nipple. His mouth opened wide, his heart drums shooting high. Thoughts that has been tormenting him disappeared because it was impossible to think while Natsu's tongue played him.

 _'God… Is this a dream?'_

He didn't deserve someone as angelic as Natsu. He gave Gray so much. His lips made Gray's fears evaporate. For that, he answered the passionate warm press of mouth with one that was the same. Then it turned violent, urgent. Natsu's flavor was addicting he couldn't stop.

They filled the quiet void of the room with shared groans and rustling of sheets. On the tight bed, Gray managed to flip them without falling off. He tugged Natsu's irritating shirt above his head, and discarded it on the floor.

"It's _cold_."

Natsu's hands had slipped from the sides of Gray's neck, resting on his chest. His erratic, clipped breathing signaled he was nervous as hell.

"Soon it won't be." Gray smiled fondly. His hands rested on Natsu's contemplating ones.

God. Natsu's cheeks sweltered. He looked at Gray as if he was the only one vulnerable, but he was wrong. The bravest in the room was him. A shard of the nightmare plucked into Gray's brain, and it slowed him, made him skeptical about their escalating relationship. If he should do it with Natsu.

"Gray…" Natsu called, his hand petting Gray's hair, "Stop thinking and come with me."

His eyes widened, then he chuckled, "Touché."

"I'm gonna make you sleep…" Natsu promised.

Gray has dragged Natsu's fingers to his lips, kissed them, licked their tips and spread Natsu's legs.

"Really, how?"

"You'll see."

Natsu stop. Unless you want Gray dead. This guy… shit. Gray leaned, kissed Natsu's cheek, his nose, under his eyes, then claimed his mouth. Damn his fucking heart. It ran miles and slammed on the walls of his chest that he thought it'd explode. Natsu's skin was a gentle burn on his own, and under his hands. The smooth but rigid feel of muscles had shot straight to his hardness.

Gray was so into licking his friend's tongue that he got easily flipped over. Natsu had straddled him, kissed his jaw, chin—and tipped Gray off when hotness covered his right earlobe. Because of his flinch, Natsu chuckled, loving the reaction, then pushed one knee between Gray's legs, rotating, rubbing, teasing.

"Shi…t."

Things got messy from there. They bit each other's lips, Natsu's hands brushed every inch of his skin, and his tongue licked the hollow of Gray's throat.

Confined. He suffocated beneath his pants, and beneath the friction of Natsu's knee against him. Either Natsu's knee and hip needed to work faster, or he'd reach down and do it himself. He couldn't bear it anymore. His hips moved on its own.

"Oh god…"

Natsu chomped Gray's cheek then smirked, "Someone's enjoying themselves."

"I'm not the only one. I can feel you too."

Natsu blushed and before he denies it, Gray pinned him underneath, stripped his own pants, followed by Natsu's.

"Wa-it.."

"No way." Gray returned the smugness earlier, "Let's see…"

"Mmnn-wait-"

Gray's fingers teased Natsu onto his boxers. And wow, he didn't think it'd be oozing stickiness, much like his own. "You're wet."

"Y-you… remember your nnnnnn… n-nightmare…"

Natsu's back arched when Gray's hands wrapped around him and stroked to throw him off.

"Like hell I would…" Gray sweated, lowered their boxers, then kissed Natsu, pushing him up, "Come here."

Fuck. Because Natsu was sopping wet, he slid around him up and down smoothly. While he stroked, his finger pressed on the head and Natsu cried out as if in pain. Only it wasn't. He couldn't contain his pleasure in this throat. Like the sticky fluid dripping from his mouth, the pleasure overflowed and spilled everywhere.

Gray blushed. Sweet Natsu was so hot. He almost came watching him struggle with ecstasy. The coconut-scented neck invited him, he sucked on it greedily, leaving a red mark.

"Touch me." Gray pecked Natsu's lips.

"Thou-ght… you'd never… ask…"

He gasped as warmth and tightness jerked him off.

Their grip around each other clashed when they kissed. It was urgent and needy that their bodies danced with their stroking rhythm. Gray then smirked into the kiss and removed Natsu's grip on him to take them both into his hand. Seeing that he couldn't rub them both, he pushed Natsu back on the bed, and frotted against him to assist his strokes.

Natsu's hands dug into Gray's shoulder, his body thrusting forward into Gray's hand.

"This is… insanne-"

Gray had sealed Natsu's lips with a long kiss that turned into a lovely fight for dominance. When a musical gasp broke Natsu apart, Gray knew where Natsu was going, because Gray was going there too.

"I'm… shit, I'm-"

Gray tasted the sweet skin of Natsu's neck and groaned, "Me too..."

Tacky thickness trickled down his fingers, soon coating them, spurting onto Natsu's stomach.

 _'Shit…'_

Natsu's slippery orgasm has provoked him to come. Emptying himself onto Natsu's warmth. For long seconds, they panted, kissed, moved themselves against each other, riding their ecstasy, then Natsu buried his nose in the side of Gray's cheek. Boneless, they tumbled on the bed, glued to one another. Gray's eyes shutting as he felt the warmth on his fingers and skin.

"What a mess…" He said, a chuckle vibrating in his chest.

"Ummm. Loved every second." Natsu came across as drunk and thirsty for sleep, "Fuck, you feel so good…"

"So I've heard." Gray helped Natsu to settle on a comfortable side on the bed and hugged him. Gray loved how uncomfortable, hot, messy, sticky it was. The best feeling ever. He wouldn't complain if they stayed in that form.

"I'm so gonna sleep Gray… I don't care if you have another nightmare… fucking don't wake me up." Natsu shivered, still pulsing against Gray's knee.

"Not arguing with that."

* * *

He thought he was calm.

When the alarm drilled their ears at dawn, they cringed and Gray wanted to throw his phone out of the window. Then again, that flight to Japan was important, and he needed to haul ass not to miss it because if he does, there're six people who would legally murder him.

Starting with Loke.

Eyes half opened and dazed, it fell on the tousled rouge-pink locks on cream pillows, the mouth he had exhausted kissing the night before, and beautiful form of Natsu's shirtless core. What more could anyone ever hope for? That's paradise next to him, and he was thankful for the shit he did right to be rewarded that way.

That's why his mood did nothing but improve. He was calm further after that awkward moment in the bed where they stared at each other like they were awkward high school kids. But, seriously, he thought something was royally fucked up with his face because Natsu stared at him for too long.

"What?" See? He had to ask.

"Hm?" The deep sleep's ghost-hum of Natsu questioned back.

"Stop staring. I can see you." Their noses weren't that far.

"I can see you too." The boy blushed, "So why can't I?"

OK. Taking Natsu's chin in hand, Gray moved to capture his lips. "You can. As long as it's me."

Triple WOW to the morning he had.

They had to smack themselves literally to resist their urges, shower, and get the hell out of the apartment.

See how that was calming and flowery?

Then dread broke his neck.

The taste of coffee elicited a grimace out of him. Shitty thing was sugary. He tossed the whole cup in the trash basket.

"You've just bought that!" Natsu shot him a look of disbelief.

"Tastes like shit. Am I supposed to live with that? I'm not a negative house wife, so no. Moving on."

The huge glazing of Tbilisi's International airport's boarding lounge revealed planes landing and departing, people getting onto airport buses, and technicians driving specialized vehicles. Though it wasn't crowded compared to Narita's airport.

Why did people invent flying things to reach two different continents faster? They could've developed other means of transportation—worked more on the amazing deserted concept of Hyperloops. If humanity had focused more on Hyperloops, and stopped their psychotic interest in birds, it could've progressed faster than planes did.

"Ok STOP." Natsu's hand landed on his left hip, "Really, stop."

Natsu had seized the unintentional bounce of his legs. Ok, first, he had no _right_. Cold sweat ran on the back of his neck as the darkest black-tinted sunglasses (ever produced) shielded Gray's eyes.

"Cool." He stopped like the other wanted.

"No, _not cool_. What's the matter? Don't tell me you're chickening out now."

"Like… what's wrong with ships? They sound fun. We could celebrate our honeymoon like those people who take off in fancy yachts—anyway, Hibiki's paying-"

"Do you realize that what you said is so wrong? ONE, we're not married, two, I'm the one who should bitch about transportation! Relax man, we're gonna be in Narita in no time-"

"A day isn't 'no time'. Hell, after that we're riding another fucking airbus to Kyoto, ANOTHER ONE Natsu."

"How did Loke do this with you?"

"I had to knock him out." The Sergeant narrowed his eyes at Gray after he had walked up to them with a cup of coffee, "He didn't stop bitching all the way from Narita—did he tell you about the history of Hyperloops? Btw, nice hickey you got there Natsu."

"No, but he brought up the yachts." Natsu gasped, his hands flying to his neck. Then his cheeks reddened, "It's-not what you think!"

"It's exactly what I think. He'll also try to harass flight attendants sexually, then he'll pretend his seat is taken by someone, he'll shout 'A BOMB' and everyone's gonna evacuate."

Gray pretended he heard nothing as both individuals fried his skin with their obnoxious stares.

"… Is that… the pilot?" Natsu asked.

A team of seven flight attendants and a man walked up in the boarding bridge which faced the boarding lounge. The man was tall with strong cheek bones. He had platinum blonde hair and a pair of azure cheery eyes.

"Yes." Loke replied. "They don't usually come here, but there's a problem with their lift."

"Hooooo." Natsu adjusted in his seat, "Must be my lucky day."

"Don't tell me…" Loke didn't want to laugh when he was drinking coffee, "The pilot? Man, the PILOT?"

"Yeah… I've a list of things I want to do before I die, and one of them is to hug a pilot-"

"-Liar." Loke smirked.

"-Ok fine, have sex with one. It's not my fault all of them have broad shoulders… hot and… strong and…"

"You're drooling."

Natsu's heart-shaped eyes followed the man until he boarded the plane. He bit his lips, "Or... if not sex, then at least sit on his lap or something…"

"I'll go ahead." Loke escaped.

Fucker wants to have sex or sit on a pilot's lap. Fucker was daydreaming of being with another man when he was sitting next to his—GUY. Gray had a gun in his handbag, and he didn't want to use it in blowing up the brains of his love interest.

"What?" Natsu appeared careless about Gray's unforgiving glare.

"Why don't you go fuck with the pilot? I'll wait here for you."

"Come on now, don't get it wrong. I'll tell you what this is like-"

"-cheating?"

"No. It's like having a crush on a celebrity or something-"

"—except that your to-do-list says something else other than sleeping with me."

Natsu's face reddened, but he went on casually, "I can't help it dude! Tell me right now you don't/didn't wanna sleep with a female flight attendant. I know I do."

"I'm an electrical engineer, OH, that's a problem. And now that we're together, how are you gonna accomplish that item? Make it two, including the flight attendant."

"Like… I didn't tell you if that item is checked or not, right?"

 _'… FUCKING BITCH PUSHING MY BUTTONS!'_

Gray took off his sunglasses, "You're fucking bluffing. It's not funny."

"How do you know if I'm bluffing…?"

"You know I have a gun right? Want me to shove it down your throat?! I bet I'll get a quick straight answer that way."

"Are you threatening me…? In the airport where cameras monitor every nook and corner?"

"I prefer going to jail than letting you anywhere near that pilot."

This argument has lasted even after they were buckled in their seats in the airplane.

"—It's not too late you know? You can still join aviation." Natsu smirked, "You'll be so charming flying a plane. You'll be my pilot. That's… my skin shivers just thinking of it."

"Why waste years of my life doing aviation when perverted humans invented something practical called role-play?"

"…?" Natsu's head whipped, and stared baffled at him, swallowing thickly.

"I'll put on the hat, tie, and tight shirt, call you up to sit on my lap while you're naked, and I'll force you to ride me while you're at it. No wait, I'll let you wear my hat, and my tie, then have you ride me—why are you drooling now?"

"God! Man, please! Shut up!"

"Look at how red you're. I didn't think you were so dirty."

"This is coming from you?!"

"I'm not the one thinking of sleeping with a pilot."

"I'm not gonna go along with this conversation anymore."

"Because you have nothing to say."

"No, because you've a stick shoved up your ass. Normally, you'd go, why not?"

"Dickhead."

"Dumbass."

"Fuck you."

"Anytime."

Gray scoffed, "Since when did you have this good sport?"

"Since he has to distract you until the plane takes off." Loke winked from the seat in front of them, "Now, kids, shut the fuck up 'cause you're embarrassing me, and enjoy the flight."

"You're…" He stared at Natsu who avoided his gaze.

Eventually, Natsu shrugged and tried to put on a careless front, "What?"

"You'd have a fight with me, for me? God, that's so sweet I feel I'll puke."

"Thank you. At least you didn't scream 'BOMB', right? You're buckled in your seat, and we're taking off."

"It's time for me to puke or break down in hysterics, oh god… I feel so queasy."

The plane moved. Gray grimaced at the friction between the wheels and land, and took a napkin, putting it on his mouth. "I hate this…"

Natsu slid Gray's sunglasses off. He took the napkin from his hand and wiped the sweat on his cheeks, his warm touches easing him. They paused a minute to stare at each other, and Gray was certain his overall appearance was pathetic.

"I think you deserve a thank you… for bearing to come all the way here… and back again…"

He stared at Natsu's complexion and lips with fondness. He stuttered feeling his frantic heart beats when the plane prepared to take off, "It's… no problem. Worth it."

* * *

Survival was hard. The trip was over twenty-four hours, and worse, a transit flight, thus, it stretched to twenty-seven hours because of flight delays. Because he didn't want a certain bitch doctor to do more harm than good, he had to visit Kameda Medical Center after their arrival at Narita International Airport.

Natsu had insisted to go with him despite his fatigue. They had to stay in a hotel in Narita until they've finished Gray's doctor visits, and they spent four days doing nothing but eating and trying to sleep (miserably failing).

Before returning to Kyoto, Hibiki had set up a meeting with them, and saying 'no' to him wasn't an option. They both wanted to finish their businesses with the government (HIBIKI LATES), but it dragged.

"Upper management…" Hibiki started thinking then shrugged, "Well, I'm upper management, so I and our director have an offer for you."

He exchanged looks of bewilderment with Natsu and shifted in his seat, crossed his legs as his hands rested on his lap.

"Me?"

"Yup."

"Ok?"

"Relax." Hibiki said as Levy stood next to him, "Your work with the pressure magnificator is brilliant, and we'd like you to work for us. We have a division for special weapon development, and we want you to be one of the team members."

 _'Holy shit. What is this guy saying?'_

"That's not gonna happen." Natsu commented calmly.

"Pros, you'll forget about the mundane package and work you received from your previous company, and as an engineer, this is an excellent opportunity for career growth. You'll be learning a lot from us which makes this offer mutually beneficial."

"No." Natsu pressed.

Levy appeared worried.

"Cons, People working for our research facilities are often targeted. We've had many kidnapping incidents, gruesome ones."

"Yeah. So, no, thanks." Natsu insisted.

"And in case they ever quit, they can't work for an opponent facility, instead, they can move freely within the local boundaries of the country. Like from Narita's branch to Fukuoka's military base, and so on. Even though it's a career boost, I wanted to give you what it entails. Now, it's up to you to think about it."

"He's not accepting it."

Man… shit. He took his time to analyze Hibiki's speech, and…

 _"Do you want to be followed everywhere? Do you want to be targeted by criminals? Your healthy civilian life will transform to paranoia and limitless stress. That's not all. You might be asked to give up your profession and work waiter, receptionist, other bullshit, why? Because today we have a director that understands the situation, but tomorrow, when he's gone, another one comes in and the council views you as a potential threat and ties up those skilled hands behind your back."_

-Laxus's warning to him three months ago rolled as hard as mountain rocks and smashed his consciousness. Hibiki's offer showed him the progress he's done, and the potential he has. Working for the government's intelligence? That… how does it work?

"You don't have to give us an answer now. That kind of decision takes days."

"I beg to differ." Natsu scoffed, "Again, what's there to think about?"

"It's up to the person of interest."

"That's right, but that person of interest has a partner and that means sharing. If I'm not okay with it, then he has to take my point of view into consideration, if not, we're officially over right here, right now."

"Gray!" Levy interfered, bothered with Natsu's intrusion, "What… what do you think about this?"

 **Diplomacy** would never be one of Gray's traits which caused a humongous problem. The minute Natsu dropped that bold statement, he forced Gray to be diplomatic about his answer because he risked everything if he said the wrong words. And that means… everything. The Japanese government _and_ Natsu Dragneel.

To begin with, Natsu and Hibiki were _alright_ towards each other. With the current flow, said _alright_ had potential to escalate to animosity, especially after Hibiki had given away Natsu's location to Gray (He had tried explaining to Natsu that he had to pretend he was physiologically dysfunctional, but Natsu still kept a grudge).

Such a pain in the balls. What on earth was he supposed to say?

"I have one inquiry."

Hibiki and Levy gave him their full attention, and Natsu's scorching gaze.

"Am I in trouble or…? I need to know so I'm not pressurized into taking the wrong direction."

Hibiki sighed, "You were. I've spoken with the director, we convinced the other parties to get you off their hooks because of your service, but judging your performance at the mini-war, we see potential in you. I thought no harm done if I get this offer out on the table."

"Cool. Thanks for offering… we've never got the chance to rest after Georgia's flight, so can I maybe get back to you later? We'll be going to Kyoto tomorrow, but maybe a phone call?"

"Yes. I'm not expecting you to decide now. Take your time, discuss it with your _partner_ , and I assure you it's _okay_ if you don't accept."

"Cool."

They discussed other stuff, like how Gildarts Clive is one of the team leads now in their division of specialized weapons.

 _'So that's what the sucker has been up to…'_

Natsu maintained his silence until they reached the hotel, and Gray saw something cooking in his brains. They had to pack for their travel the day after, and so they had a nice brief conversation while debating whether Natsu should keep his hotel candy or not.

"You're not taking this offer, and that's that." Natsu kept them in the end, "We're going to another district, to live a normal life. Finally, yaaay!" He clapped.

Gray raised an eyebrow, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Or not?" Natsu stopped clapping, "What's that scowl for?"

"I want to think about it and you should give me that. Why are you against it?"

The boy grunted, "What? Gray-"

"—I know, ok? I know, but I…"

Natsu tossed the candy on the bed, "We were in a war zone, and we **survived**. The least you can do is to never go back! Normal days, normal routines, normal jobs… Like… normal people! Normal people don't go working in a governmental research facility where their lives are endangered!"

"Wait, wait, wait! Since when were you Mister S&S first? You went Guinea, and you worked in the mines where people died daily because of various accidents?"

"The fuck's S&S?"

"Sex and salt."

"… You're not-"

"-Safety and Security idiot. Your nature is reckless, why do you want me to live risk-free?"

"Fuck you! Because I've seen you almost dying! You're suffering mentally and you want a rewind of all that?! Fuck you! Don't even think about it! Not if I'm around!"

"There's no point living a life without risking something. You of all people know that! Hey! Where're you going?! Are you serious?!"

Natsu walked out on him.

He rubbed his head, annoyed and furious. He knew Natsu had a point in his instant rejection, but Gray couldn't help the slight sting of joy when people saw potential in him to grow. Life meant constant progression, and without that, there's no meaning of living.

" **Natsu**!"

The boy entered the elevator and disappeared.

"Are you—he fucking walked out on me! Oh you little-!" Gray kept pressing on the elevator's buttons, and got into one, "-Bastard!"

As soon as the elevator opened again, Gray strode after the pink hair running out to the hotel's garden.

"Bastard!"

Natsu smacked his grip and stepped back, "I—I don't want to have this conversation with you—just no. I feel what we have just started is gonna end if I do."

"Don't be ridiculous! You'd do this to us for something like that? You can't."

"…" Natsu gritted his teeth, "I wanna support your decisions, and I hope for your success, but this? No! I can't and I won't encourage this! I can't find it in me to do that! I saw you fucking dying ok?! You didn't see me dying! You'd do the same if you were in my place."

"Ok, there's-"

"-Stop! No! I beg you no!" Natsu hugged Gray and tightened his hold around him, "No! Just no! Before you have an obligation towards them, you have one towards me! You told me you'd stay. Please… I can't experience that again."

Natsu warmed Gray by his concerns, and excess guilt showered him. He held Natsu's waist and kissed his neck, inhaling his scent.

"Let's go back, ok?"

Natsu squirmed, not wanting to budge.

"I promise I won't speak about this for now. Let's focus on getting our stuff sorted out for tomorrow, agreed?"

"…"

"Come on, let's go." He guided them inside, "Let's hope we didn't lock ourselves outside."

"Shit!" The dumbass gasped.

"Exactly."

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** In a week, more or less, subject to change.

Hi Guys!

Okkkkk, Gray's in a tight spot. but yeah.

 **Special thanks to:** Wavy, (He CAN be. Only, he won't do it often. But, from now on, i will force him to be! hehe, thanks for reading.), Ren (OMG. Apologies. Originally, I have written that first part as a brawl happening, not really wanting people to figure out who is who. But, I should've taken into consideration that readers would actually want to know. So sorry, hope it didn't ruin your experience of the rest of the chapter...), Kori No Koibito (Trust me, he's only getting gayer from now on! Which is where we writers are most excited.), JO (Yes... I feel those characters were the creators present to us! I thank him for it!)

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that. AND stay safe, stay home.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	23. Chapter 23

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content **.**

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** T **w** e **n** t **y** T **h** r **e** e **O.** o **.O**

* * *

 **Kyoto, Japan – 2:30 PM**

* * *

 _"I warned you."_

"Could we skip the blame part?"

Laxus chuckled, enjoying Gray's torment.

 _"I've done some investigation myself. Apparently, Hibiki thinks it's unfair we drag you into our mess when you were trying to protect your friend."_

"Thank goodness."

 _"He covered up for you. Whether or not you accept his offer, you should know what you're up against. Smartasses like you don't live long if they get into this business."_

"Appreciate the compliment."

 _"Enjoy your time off. We'll talk later."_

"Time off?"

 _"You'll accept the offer. You're taking a breather for now."_

"…"

 _"I can read you so well, no?"_

"Hahaha…"

 _"Keep your relationship transparent and tell your partner your intentions, otherwise you lose what's important."_

"Why do you speak like my mother?"

 _"I'll see you later."_

The Taxi halted to pass the speed bump, shaking them, and resumed towards its destination. Since his phone call with Major Laxus Dreyar, Natsu stuck to silence, distancing himself from Gray, in favor of contemplating about all sorts of shit next to the window.

"Natsu."

The boy's cheek didn't move from his palm, and he responded with a mere, "Hmm?"

"We're okay. He wasn't lying after all."

"That's a relief."

"I know what you mean."

Natsu exhausted himself thinking of their encounter with Hibiki more than Gray, and more than he should. That's not how Gray planned their day. They've just found each other, and that road needed to take shape. The other wonderful night, they huddled up heart to heart, lips ghosting over the other… that was all he ever asked for. No one would steal that from them.

Sighing, he nudged Natsu's waist with his phone. Natsu moved his head to look at him before he punched his arm playfully, a small smile surfacing.

The taxi stopped.

"Cool, we're here."

"Where's here?" Natsu grunted as he helped with their luggage. Gray had paid the Taxi, and both stood at the gate of an old giant apartment complex that stole their breaths away. The cool air mesmerized them and forced silence.

Light beige painted the building's exterior. All the apartments had diagonal terraces scattered all over the surface like domino blocks falling on top of each other with lush greenery in each terrace. The building had a diagonal orientation, and fifteen stories. Although it was old, it stood with pride.

"Is this another hotel? Or are we visiting someone?"

Gray removed his glasses and dragged the suitcase. "Let's go."

Natsu wasn't done with his sightseeing. It distracted him from questioning Gray further. In the building's lobby, the swishing of the mini water fountain stood out. Gray pressed key (6) in the keyboard steel panel after they've squished themselves and their luggage inside the elevator.

"Ahhh~ That was a lengthy flight."

Natsu nodded, fumbling with the handle of the suitcase up and down, "After Georgia and Guinea, nothing certifies as a long flight for me."

"Yup."

"Did your mother move here or something?"

"What?!" Gray's laughter blasted in the elevator as he held his waist. Laughing proved difficult nowadays, "Wha-hahahahaha, why do you ask?"

"Like I dunno. Why are we here?"

"Why the hell would I take us to see my mother when we're dead and sleepy as fuck? That's so fucked up… and why my mother?"

"I just guessed. We wanna collapse, so why are we visiting anybody at all?"

"Shush."

"Jerk-"

"-Shushhhhhh."

Natsu blinked, then pouted, tapping his foot.

The elevator dinged. A refreshing breeze roamed in the long corridor, flowing from the wide openings of daylight. The corridor's flooring had sandy concrete square tiles with dark brown boarders. Potted plants leaned against the cream-painted walls, and several lighting lanterns too.

Gray paused in front of a large maroon apartment door with the number "601" as he searched in his pockets.

 _'Yup.'_

He rotated the silver key in its slot two times.

After they have taken their shoes off, the living room baffled Natsu. The white curtains floated to reveal the life outside the glazing, the grey sofa's cushions looked inviting to lie on, and the turquoise ornamented carpet promised comfort.

Gray closed the door and put their luggage aside.

"Home sweet home." Gray pulled Natsu's arm, "The bathroom, the kitchen's there… This is my bedroom. Your bedroom is at end of the corridor… I don't know if I got it right, but meh, you can always re-organize."

"…" Natsu blinked at _his_ bedroom. Simple double-size auburn wooden bed with two matching drawers. Beige with a golden ornament chaise lounge rested underneath the sill of the enormous window. Pigment Blue Persian carpet with royal Yellow ornaments in the center covered the travertine flooring.

Natsu didn't move, didn't react, didn't speak, and tightened more knots in Gray's gut.

"As I said, we… we can always do something different. Now, the bathroom has a shaver, towel, shampoo, soap, everything, so feel free to take a shower. Basic stuff is in the kitchen because I haven't been around. Right now, we have water, tea, coffee, bread, cheese, Jam, some cupcakes—I asked specifically for them, and DON'T ask why."

Gray continued his mini-orientation in the middle of the living room, "There's a supermarket at the end of the block. A hospital has just opened two blocks away, and the first floor here has a laundry service. To go downtown, there's a bus station nearby. Unfortunately, the train station is a bit... far. Like a twenty-minute walk."

Natsu altered between staring at the place's objects and Gray. He was tight-lipped and swallowed whatever he was encouraged to say. Finally, the pink haired threw his body on the sofa, looked at his watch, and rubbed his face with both hands.

Was it a bad idea? His mom didn't think so. They lived together before, so it wasn't such a big deal. Since he was serious about them, Gray meant to show it. As in crystal clear kinda show it. To be honest, he expected total rejection like _'No man, I'm good on my own for now, too fucking fast for this shit'_ or a flowery picture where Natsu gives a definite yes or some horseshit like that.

He wasn't getting the rejection, or the flowery picture. It fucking ate him up. Like, say something.

Was he too selfish going too far?

"I'll use your shower. And the bed... for now."

Should he ask?

"Absolutely. Tell me if you need anything at all."

"Great."

Did anyone else see what's wrong with this?

FUCK.

* * *

 _'Listen. It is what It is. He doesn't want it, and he doesn't know how to say it, so suck it the fuck up. And remember; look at the positive side of things… even if there's no apparent one. Oh you know what I-you mean. Those stupid spirit-lifting quotes from Ameba? Yeah those. Replay them.'_

Sometimes, Gray had these homey-cozy feelings and shit. Whenever he was around to enjoy his humble accommodation, he'd open the terrace, letting the evening cool breeze mixed with the smell of grass and earth in.

His apartment complex building's most iconic feature was their terraces and the potted plants (That a gardener came every month to check on), Gray couldn't take care of a plant to save his own life, hence the fresh grassy earthy smell. Like after the rain.

He missed this. He missed home. He missed his 'me' moments next to his evening Ice-lemon glass. It was all packing from one place to another (It was fun) the past months, but ok. Settling somewhere was cool too.

 _'OK. Get this one right. Otherwise, you're losing too much today for your own good.'_

The corridor's rustling caught his attention, and he wished it didn't, because it made him lose, again.

The pink head walked in, dressed in a black tank top tainted with small white prints, and beige pants, bare footed, with bed hair.

Maybe it was a good thing Gray got a silent rejection. Natsu's existence in his place would cause happy heartaches, sad heartaches, perverted heartaches, and he could live without that for a change. Oh, Natsu. He wanted to kiss him.

"Where's your tea?"

Someone wasn't sleeping.

Gray's eyes were on his phone, "Top, far right cabinet."

"Ok. I'll make myself a cup, you want one?"

"Nope. Got my Iced lemon."

Few minutes later, a weight landed next to him. Someone smelled like fresh Vanilla ice-cream. Quiet down noisy heart. You're such an attention whore. Like, can't you grow out of this? Pathetic.

Gray rocked his crossed leg and pretended to focus.

"What happened to Plants Vs. Zombies?"

Gray tensed, "Meh, wasn't challenging enough."

"And _this_ is?"

Haha, busted, "Never said I wanted something challenging now. This is soothing, calming."

Natsu scoffed, "This is candy crush in disguise."

"What are you talking about? Jelly blast is nothing like candy crush."

"Whatever you say."

Why does everything this fucker do get under his skin? like sipping his tea? Gray, you need serious help.

Between them, tons of unspoken questions struggled. Gray knew his own, but Natsu, what did you wanna know? Whatever shit that you have in your throat, why don't you throw it at Gray, and he'd take it. Gray was more than willing to take more words, positive or negative, but not **silence**.

That shit was the same fuck that formed a high-voltage electrical wired malicious barrier between them throughout high school.

He removed his eyes from the colorful candy displayed on screen, to look at a prettier one, with pink untamed hair illuminated by the living room's faint table lamp's warm light. He tugged at the hem of his tank top, brewing the words in his brain before he said them.

He had stopped drinking, as soon as Gray caught his stare. His cheeks were already pinkish from the semi-sleep, but then they deepened, spreading to the tip of his nose.

When will he be able to unwrap this candy for real? When will it be his fully? For the love of God, when will Natsu be willing to talk and give his feelings away?

Gray wasn't much of a talker when it came down to the complicated messy yarn balls of fuck 'feelings', and maybe it was his fault. Maybe that's why Natsu was frightened to give away his and be laughed at or rejected.

Tired and sick from the endless loop, Gray decided to break it, to deny it the chance of coming between them again, because, seriously? Enough.

Five years enough.

"Natsu."

The cup shook in the boy's fidgety fingers, and froze at his name being called out.

"This is brash, it's… selfish too. Rest here tonight, maybe tomorrow too, then you can go. But… I'll keep your room waiting for you. In case you change your mind. After you think about it—I know, shoulda discussed with you first."

He patted himself on the back for being strong and positive.

Then Natsu didn't answer. He breathed through a red nose, eyes looking around him, searching for the right or maybe the wrong thing to say. Come on, Natsu.

 _'Give me something, anything.'_

Finally, his grip on the cup hardened as he established an anxious eye-contact with Gray.

"Do you know the reason I was upset this morning?"

Not the question he expected, but ok. Let's play along.

"Cause Japanese government and my affiliation with the Justice League?" He sounded like a kid answering a parent, what the fuck?

"Not really." Natsu rubbed the scar on his neck, then wrapped both hands around the cup again, "I thought… today was gonna be the last day with you before I'm back home. To come and… have you do this, it feels like a dream. I'm shell-shocked… and…"

Natsu trailed, never finishing his sentence, urging the words.

But those small anxious sentences had broken a dam of lightness in Gray. His entire world was glitter and hopefulness.

The smile was out before he could stop it.

"Like hell it's the last day."

Natsu wore a serious strained face, "I used your shower… I got a bit of sleep too. Not much, but enough, yet when I woke up, everything is still the same and-"

"-Come here."

Gray stole the cup in Natsu's hand to link it with his own, and dragged the boy with him. Natsu was in a trance of sorts that allowed him to follow until he was in the middle of the terrace, the cold evening's breeze wrapping itself around his bare shoulders.

His 6th floor Terrace wasn't so high to cover a magnificent view, but it was good enough. The park, the shimmers of artificial light inside the surrounding buildings, the lit up two ways road... they looked different than when he last saw them. Better. Brighter. Happier.

Because this guy was standing next to him.

He let his friend take it in as he positioned himself behind Natsu. As the boy shivered lightly, Gray pulled him in a secure position so that his back rested against Gray's chest. They both stared ahead, hearts unified with the rhythm of their beating.

"Say yes." Gray's whisper in Natsu's ear immobilized him.

"To?"

"Just say it."

His arms cradled Natsu tight, feeling the sharp rise and fall in the boy's chest, "I can't say yes to creepy shit I don't know."

"Say yes, you're gonna live with me."

Natsu's chest hitched, and Gray felt his strong heart beats through the bones, skin impossibly feverish. How did he not see this before? The boy swung like jelly in his arms.

Shit.

"Gray…" The boy held onto Gray's arm across his chest, desperate, "It's all I ever wanted."

Gray realized how stupid he was. Throughout the day he was seeking either rejection, or a flowery image of _Oh my god, of course_.

 _Idiot._ Natsu gave him more than that. He squeezed his heart with ecstasy so that it almost burst. He wanted to yell at the boy to stop it, and to kiss him for it too.

"… What about you? Is this… what you wanted? Gray?"

 _'Shit, stop being so goddamn cute.'_

Swear to god, the light sweet caresses of Natsu's fingers on his forearm had nothing to do with his answer.

"I'm gonna be living with my best friend, what more can any person hope for?"

The sweet sensual touches froze, a bile aroused in Natsu's throat as he spoke, "I'm not gonna do the whole 'living together as best-friends thing' anymore. This isn't… like university days. Do you… do you understand what I'm trying to say here?"

 _Oh yes._

"I'm living with you as my guy, you know. Not guy friend. It's not just a place I'm crashing at to ease my commute to college or wherever. I'm-this is all serious for me. I'd rather you tell me right here right now that you're not ready for it. Because—don't devastate me, don't do that. Especially, not after I said yes."

It shouldn't have been a surprise for Gray to hear those concerns, but it was. The moment they harbored feelings for each other, he constantly fed Natsu's insecurities with his lack of communication until it piled up to that gigantic mountain of vicious doubts and heart-break.

Gray wanted someone to kick his own ass, because a semi-wrong sentence from him had pushed Natsu to the edge. How was that possible?

The unbreakable Natsu was breaking in his hand time and again… how? Why?

At the barely audible sniff, guilt settled in Gray.

"Why will I do all of this? Why will I travel all the way to Eastern Europe? Because you're my best friend?"

Natsu shrugged heavily, and a few tears wetted Gray's forearm, "R-really… you've always been a wonderful friend to me…"

"You know better. Wonderful friends don't kiss or _frot_."

"Like in other foreign countries-"

"-Bullshit right?" Gray tightened his hold, kissing the back of Natsu's head, "All of this dark gloomy cloud of haziness in your head… get rid of it. This place's yours. You're living with your guy, so hey, let go. Allow yourself to be crazy happy, because I'm crazy happy thinking of the endless possibilities when we're together."

Natsu rested on Gray as if needing a tighter hold.

"I love your place. God, I love it so much. I can't wait to share all sorts of things with you."

"Woah." Gray laughed, "I said be happy, not radiant. You're infecting me."

"Thank you… you have no idea how much this means to me."

Natsu held onto him, breathing in and out to get rid of the tears, but the harder he tried, the harder they overflowed.

* * *

Hunger hit them both like crazy after their emotional exchange.

They wasted two entire minutes of their lives debating ordering pizza or burgers, and Gray wasn't that person who would elongate useless conversations. He flipped the coin, and it was decided. Dragon Burgers would forever earn Gray's approval, besides Natsu's. They unwrapped their Burgers, enjoying the juicy meat and their french fries.

"It was my office space. My room's too small for our stuff so I told mom to move the desk to the living room, get rid of the useless stuff, and re-furnish it."

Natsu said something, and Gray told him not to fucking speak when his mouth was full of food.

"I mean…" The boy chugged down coke, "She got it right. It's sooooo me. I need to thank her. She's always been so sweet."

 _'I was the one who picked the furniture and the color theme and everything you burger stuffed idiot.'_

"Sure thing." Fucking Gray getting Jealous from his own mother.

"What about the rent?" Natsu stopped eating, "Can I help? Can we share? Can-"

Gray dismissed Natsu's concerns by a wave of his hand, "It's paid until March next year. We don't have to worry about that now."

"Yeah, but I'll help at some point. You'll let me do that, yeah?"

"I will when you have a job."

"Hohoho Fullbuster-san. You're underestimating my financial status. Do you know that I have a monthly income even when I'm not 'physically' working?"

Dread knocked Gray sideways, "Your father, of course."

Natsu shook his head, "I invested in Alzack's mining company, so I have a profit percentage. I'm the owner."

What do you know? The idiot had the brains to grow out of his father's hold.

"It's not extravagant, but good enough."

"Fuck you." Gray laughed munching on his fries.

"So I'll help, yeah?"

"Fine. After March, you'll help."

"Speaking of which, you're the one who needs to get a job!" Natsu teased.

"As I said, fuck you."

* * *

They met their neighbors that night when they took the trash out. Two females who shared an apartment. Although Kagura wasn't as lively as Millianna who blabbered about whatthefuckever, she appeared kind and sophisticated. When Gray lived here half a year ago, he had no neighbors and...

You know what? He's happy it's not a pilot. If it was a pilot, then Gray would've had no choice but to commit a crime. Or move out.

It. is. Not. A. Pilot.

Fucking. No.

They even received a box of cookies from the girls, a welcome gift…? Were they targeting Natsu or something? Well, he's taken. Let them try.

Imagine hot steamy milk with Vanilla, topped with coconut flakes. DISGUSTING, right? He had believed that drink suited babies, the elderly, or cats.

They spent the first week doing these three things: complaining, eating, and complaining.

The triangle of agonizing exhaustion: Travelling to Georgia, Travelling to Narita, Travelling to Kyoto, has taken a toll on his well-being (he's a delicate guy), and he needed sleep to heal.

Jet laaaaaaaaag, aka, jumping over several time zones, is a bitch.

That week agonized them in ways they couldn't understand. They woke up at 2:00 AM for no reason. When they lost all hope to sleep, they played light soccer in the playground two blocks away, basketball, and cards to waste time and energy at 5:00 AM.

It was when he accepted the felines drink. Fuck, he wanted to sleep, and since he can't allow anyone to knock him on the back of his head, he settled for Natsu's childish suggestion.

His suggestion was to smoke, but Natsu smacked him.

His next suggestion was sleeping pills, and surprisingly, Natsu didn't shrug this one off or fuck-up his nose for it. On the way to the pharmacy, they remembered sleeping pills demanded a prescription, and for that he almost got his nose fucked up.

Sleep deprived Natsu had a twitching eye.

Luck was on his side because the pharmacist was the pretty girl who flirted with him whenever she got the chance so he told Natsu to shut up and let him do the talking, and since it was a life or death situation, Natsu tolerated the act of temporary cheating.

Both of them held their glasses of water in one hand, and the sleeping pill in the other.

"Cheers."

They clunk their glasses and gulped down the pill. Half an hour later, they were out of it.

They acknowledged the sleeping pill's work. It switched them off, that's all what it did. Switch them off. They don't remember dreaming or _feeling_. Literally, they were like computers running for a month and all the sleeping pill did was hibernation.

The process didn't include a refresh.

As much as it was frustrating for both, his lips curved in a casual smile and maintained it since the moment they started living together. His mind no longer tormented him with worry over his friend and the guilt gradually abandoned him. They were sharing their first experience, regardless of the awful nature of its beginning.

The jet-lag curse wore off that day when they were playing cards at 10:00PM and they both yawned. The happiness they felt over the yawn was exceptional. Sleepy at 10:00PM was foreign to them. They accomplished victory and trumped the Jet-lag curse.

"That's it for me…" His friend stretched and groaned, "God…"

"Me too..."

They were too drowsy to laugh, but they did. Not so loud as they're used to. They wrapped up the game and decided to call it a day.

"So are you gonna let me in your room soon or what?" Drowsiness laced his friend's voice.

"Did I ever keep you away from it?" Gray laughed and threw his arm around his friend's shoulder as they walked to their respective rooms, "You're weird man."

"… yeah, I'm weird."

He hated the idea of letting Natsu go because it meant losing the heart-warming heat, but he did it when he realized he held the boy for longer than a minute.

"Not today?" Natsu pressed.

"It's… a bit messy. You'll have to find your way inside the small bed."

"Ok. Later then."

He contemplated about the look Natsu gave him.

"Goodnight man."

"Hopefully." He grunted, and entered his room. He disappointed Natsu with his answer for sure.

Natsu said he loved the place, but somewhere he would be stressed with Gray's way of putting them together. He had made moving in with him an ultimatum of sorts. Basically, any sane person would refrain from pressurizing their partner, but he wasn't going to waste more of his life away from Natsu.

Selfishness, he's aware.

So he kept his hands off, until Natsu was at ease about the place, the life, the relationship. It would devastate him if he made a move (even the smallest of'em) and caused Natsu discomfort. Like, no, he can't feel like he's harassing his partner, thank you very much.

He'll give Natsu time and that's that. For the time being, hands off.

It was _harder_ than he thought.

That feeling… climbing on top of your bed, laying your heavy head on top of the soft fluffy pillow, and yawning, then sleeping, and dreaming…

FUCK, nothing rivaled it.

* * *

He needed a shower ASAP.

He took off his shirt, stared at the long mirror of the bathroom and the large patch on his waist, and winced. It ached in the middle of his nap. He sweated profusely and was shocked that Kyoto's police force has yet to apprehend him for the amazing stink odor production and distribution.

Sometimes during the night, Gray would get muscle convulsions, followed by nightmares and all what interrupts a good night's sleep.

Natsu should be nowhere near his chaos until he's cleared. Let's admit it, it'd take an awful long time for the mental clearance. At least physically, he should be cleared. At least his bed shouldn't have the remnants of blood from his bandages, or the few drops of the alcohol-smelling sterilizer, or his silent nightmare-freak-outs.

The freezing water made him feel alive again. And there he was, sitting on the bed, pausing for minutes with his waterproof bandage in hand.

And wow, something smelled delicious.

"Someone's gonna catch cold."

Immediately, he discarded his broken exterior and replaced it with confidence, but couldn't tell if it worked.

Natsu approached him with a smile that robbed Gray his agony. What is agony? What is stress? What is anxiety? He forgot what those words meant when that guy was there. Because that guy was all what mattered.

He was too consumed in watching that he let Natsu dry his hair. The boy had offered to help Gray shower, but Gray couldn't wander into the trap. He'd lose the self-control he pledged to himself until Natsu gets used to the space.

No fucking onto the bathroom's wet tiles, _yet_.

"Let me do it for you."

"Natsu, it's-"

"Let me? Please?"

Gray had laid back on the bed, giving up, letting Natsu tend to his wound.

"Let's see… oh, this will sting, ok?"

He nodded, and gosh.

"Sorry?" Natsu kept cleaning even though it hurt.

"No worries. You're… why are you good with this?"

Natsu shrugged, his focus never leaving Gray's wound, "Had to learn some stuff while working in the mines in case of emergencies. Hey, I have to get rid of the pus, so it'll hurt."

"Ok, I can-" A shot of pain surged in his waist, his hand flying to Natsu's shoulder, "Wait-wait, wait!"

"Sorry, no can do. This shit needs to be scraped off, otherwise your wound won't heal. Bear it."

Gray's fists were full with the bed sheets. Shit, his whole body was on fire. Natsu's scraping with the cotton bandage stormed his pain-sensing nerves. And Suddenly, it stopped. He could breathe again… his eyes closed, and he panted.

 _'I'm gonna faint, and it'll look super lame…'_

Natsu smeared the injury with an antibiotic cream, tapped a cotton to it, then finally, stuck three waterproof bandages on it.

"All done."

Gray panted until warmth touched his lips. He didn't need to open his eyes. He held Natsu's face and kissed back weakly. The sweet kiss was apologetic and caring. Natsu shouldn't apologize, he was helping.

"Food?" Natsu pulled back.

Their chests bubbled with joy and laughter that they were reliving their days together.

"I'd kill for mom's spaghetti with meatballs right now."

Natsu laughed and smacked his forehead. "You'll never grow out of this, will you?"

"Not a chance." His grin waned, "It's like I'm conditioned to it you know. Like, got beaten up by older girls, eyes brimming with tears, Spaghetti with Meatballs. Rejected from the swimming club, spaghetti with meatballs. Didn't make it to the college I wanted, Spaghetti with Meatballs. Being forced to leave you, Spaghetti with Meatballs-"

Natsu eyes teared and he smacked Gray's leg to stop cracking him up.

"Whaaat?"

"Fuck—what was she thinking? oh my god!"

"Oh Natsu. I think I gained some shitty weight, and I had a serious discussion with her about the way she handled depression. I told her gimme a carrot or something, and then she told me to get outta her house, that woman… fuuuuckkk. She's crazy."

"Is she-hahaha-Is she even J-Japanese?"

"I sure hope so."

Their laughter grew louder as they both headed to kitchen after Gray had put on a shirt.

"Shit… bro, did you...? No way!"

The kitchen smelled like his mom's famous healing recipe.

Natsu grinned, "I used your phone when you were in the shower. She texted me the recipe."

He did… what? Shit.

"You could've asked me. I know how to make it." Yes, plus, he doesn't know why he felt jealous of his own mom. EVEN If Natsu did it for him.

"I bet you refused to ask your mom, so your version is different because of your ego and you're gonna pass that to the coming generation too."

"Shut up, I can actually cook!"

Natsu pressed Gray's phone to his chest, giving it back. "You're not cooking anything. You're gonna eat whatever shit I made and go fucking sleep."

Gray stood at loss for words. His throat dried up, and his chest tightened with Natsu's care for him. He swallowed and texted his mom.

 _Ur: You don't deserve him, he's a national treasure._

She was hundred percent right, no doubt.

"Want help? I can move you know."

"Nope."

Gray pursed his lips, "I bet you made the balls looking like my testicles."

Natsu shot him an incredulous look, then sighed, "Very small and dry?"

"Fuck you Dragneel. Since when do you have a business with comebacks?"

"Fuck off Fullbuster. Since I'm living with you. Can't you stop for a minute? Lord, and you're freaking injured."

"I liked you better when you were innocent."

"Bite me."

"I'd do that… later though."

Natsu inhaled sharply, "Ok, stop. You're distracting me… what was I thinking? …oh yeah."

"What?" Gray checked his e-mail.

"… No, that won't work."

"What won't work?"

"Nevermind."

Gray stared at him instead of the screen, "Tell me. I'll tell you if it won't work."

"No, I was thinking about what the girls next door… if we call them to share the meal, but… first you're tired and second, it's the first time I'm doing this so I don't know if it will be any good."

"Hmm. That won't work, yeah." Gray stared back at his phone, "Relax, we'll get many chances later."

"Yeah, you're right." Natsu continued his search through the fridge.

Gray's protectiveness was speaking, and he was glad Natsu didn't feel it. Bitches, it was the first time he cooks for Gray in a long time. He wasn't going to let some random neighbors savor it like he would.

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** In a week, more or less, subject to change.

 **Special thanks to:** Wavy, (Yes I did. Surprising? Its a bit different from what i used to write up till now, but I think I'm growing out of my comfort zone. I hope you enjoyed it though!), Ren (Are you ok...? OMG, sorry? Hhaha, jokes aside, i hope you had a pleasurable read.), Kori No Koibito (I told you he would switch gay. (Evil laughter) and even morrrrrre. I will leave Natsu's sadistic thoughts imagination to you!), deboome, (Yes he always does, even if it looks he doesn't!)

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that. AND stay safe, stay home.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


	24. Chapter 24

**Author Notes:**

 **Warnings:** Swearing - Sexual themes/Content **.**

 **Genre, in depth:** Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.

 **Story Cover Art:** The Amazing Astrovique.

 **Beta Reader:** The one and only enjoys literature.

 **Disclaimer:** Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.

* * *

O **.o.** O **C** h **a** p **t** e **r** T **w** e **n** t **y** Four **O.** o **.O**

* * *

Gray SNORTED.

"Told you it'd look like my testicles."

A lengthy sigh escaped Natsu as his cheek rested on his palm. The spaghetti plate steamed and dispersed a delicious aroma, but the meatballs looked exactly like what Gray had told him.

"I wonder why it didn't come out right."

"Didn't come out right?! Dude, that's an understatement."

"Ok, ok, ok, screw you." Natsu said and dug into the plate anyway.

"Thank god I told you getting the girls is a bad idea. Dude, they'd think we're perverts. It would be the worst payback ever for the welcoming chocolate cookies."

Natsu sighed again and stabbed his odd-looking meatball… was it? And shoved it his mouth, chewing hard, "I hope you know I'd do the same for your testicles if you don't shut up."

Gray shook his head and tried the spaghetti first.

"Decent." He was surprised, "Weird. I thought it'd taste like my testicles too."

"For the love of god—would you stop?!"

"Let's try the actual testicles."

"Enough is enough!" Natsu jumped from his seat, and in seconds, Gray Fullbuster's neck was under the mercy of Natsu's triangle choke. He tried to wiggle out, but damn, Natsu didn't have the intention to let go.

His throat hurt, and he retreated to bang Natsu's back against the sofa. Natsu saw through Gray and slowed down the collision impact between him and the sofa, instead, they both fell backwards, rolled on the sofa, then on the flooring. He punched and kicked, but Natsu wouldn't budge.

"Don't… make me bite your stupid arm!"

Natsu was breathing hard, "Go ahead coward!"

"Ok, ok, ok, I give in dude! Your win!"

"If you say anything about testicles again, I'm gonna-"

"—Not going to, promise. Let go!"

They both grunted as Natsu let go. The next minute they held their forks as if nothing happened.

Gray patted his neck and started flexing his shoulders around it, "Dude... You can't use that method with me and expect a fair fight, got that? Next time I'm ruining you."

"Promises, Promises."

"Now let's try the t-" Gray sweat-dropped when a harsh glare interrupted him, "-Ahem, my voice's getting hoarse…"

"Why won't you-ah, maybe let it rest and eat or drink or SOMETHING?" Natsu dared him to say it.

"-Yup, good thinking."

"Thought so."

"Yup."

"Yup."

Their meal time was enthusiastic. Gray got himself in small fights with his friend three times, it was fun. By the time they ended their meal, Natsu was drained, and Gray was drowsy. He was drowsy before, but the verbal and physical fights enhanced it.

He helped Natsu clean up, and jokes aside, the food tasted great. While Natsu placed the last clean plate on the dish rack, Gray held his hand, and kissed the tips of his fingers. They still had traces of the garlic and tomato smell, and… he felt lucky. That Natsu was all for him.

"Thanks for the food. I'm gonna hit the bed."

It was adorable how Natsu's skin reddened.

The boy tailed him until he reached his room. Turning around, he smiled and raised an eyebrow, "Can I help you?"

"Gonna sleep with you. In case you need anything…"

"Nope. Not gonna happen."

"Ok…" Natsu had his hands in his waist, huffing a breath, "This is… is ridiculous. What if something happens to you?"

"What're you talking about?" Gray chuckled, "Nothing worse is gonna happen to me, alright? You did an outstanding job with my wound too."

"What if…" Natsu hugged Gray, "What if I just want to? You know?"

 _'Oh God… don't make this anymore difficult…'_

He was certain that Natsu was nervous by the way his fingers fumbled Gray's shirt. This is _difficult_. Gray licked his lips and shrugged off his own nervousness, "I… kinda want my space to toss and turn in pain. You won't be comfortable with it. You can come in much later, when this thing settles..."

Natsu let go, his cheeks and ears fully red. He nodded reluctantly, and chuckled to ease the tension, backing away, "Yeah, understand. If you need anything… just yell."

"Yeah, okay." He offered a small appreciative smile. "Thanks for the meal. It was nice."

"You're welcome."

Natsu headed to the living room, and he was watching the retreating figure. He didn't look fine, and it was his fault.

* * *

He hit the search button, scrolled down, and found a good title.

"Dude." Natsu called as he wore a jacket, "I'm gonna go to the store, you want anything?"

"Hmm? Umm-Ah, sorry what?"

"Me going to the store, anything you want?"

Gray sipped from the coffee and stared at Natsu, remembering that he has nothing to worry about because his laptop's screen wasn't visible to the other.

"Ah… no… wait let me think…"

"Ok…"

"Do we still have Oreos?"

"Yes."

"Can you fetch me one packet? Pleeeeeease?"

Natsu shook his head as he headed to the kitchen, "Lazy asshole."

"Thanks dude."

His friend threw the packet that Gray fetched, "I want nothing more. I'm cool."

"Ok… don't you wanna come with?"

"I'm in the middle of something so…"

"-Yeah fine. See ya."

He waited until Natsu exited and sighed.

"Back to this shit. First, emotional: A person's heart withers if it does not answer another heart. A quote by a weird guy. Anyway… what should happen here, basically?"

He checked other titles, visited other websites, enrolled himself in relationship tests, and saw half a dozen of relationship blogs/Vlogs. He finished the cup of coffee, the packet of Oreos, and remained confused.

"… What a mountain full of shit that is called the internet."

All those people on the internet posting shit should die because they wasted his time and contributed to his confusion.

"Enough! Where're your fucking parents when you need them? Let's check the email."

He thanked himself for thinking practically since there was a mail from Hibiki, one that was sent three days ago.

 _'Hi Gray._

 _Did you think about the offer? Don't get me wrong, I'm not rushing you, but It's good for me to know because I've an upcoming meeting with our director. If you're not sure, I understand. Tell me whenever you can._

 _I hope you're enjoying the honeymoon._

 _KR_

 _Hibiki Lates.'_

"Mommmmyyyyyyyy. Ouchyyyyy. That's not good, not good." He almost broke into his screen, reached out for the 'honeymoon' bit and torn it apart, "Why are those people thinking like that? Is it a crime to sit unproductive, they think you're banging all day? I don't even bang!"

"Don't even bang?"

Gray jolted at the comment and rushed to protect his laptop from crashing with the floor.

"Dude, KNOCK!"

"Sorry so much."

"Right."

His friend headed to the kitchen with a tired pace. He didn't wanna corner Natsu and open the subject yet. Maybe when he's in a better mood.

"So…" Gray said walking towards the kitchen's counter.

"Mmm?" Natsu didn't even look, as he poured the milk on his cereal. That boy was a milk lover for sure because it wasn't breakfast, it was fucking brunch.

"How are you doing?"

Natsu stared at him with the spoon half-way in his mouth. You can imagine coughing, sneezing, and cussing.

 _'As I said… What a mountain full of shit that is called the internet.'_

"Goodness. Did I hear myself right or did I just tell you to suck me off or something?"

The coughing increased, and for a minute he thought he could do magic with words.

"-Stop." Natsu warned, "Why would you ask that?"

"I didn't know it was so private man."

Natsu used a napkin to wipe off the milk-snot from his nose, "No it's not, but—I'm okay, obviously."

"But you're eating cereals."

"So what?"

"Dude, you're eating cereals."

Natsu's weird habit gave him away, and he knew that there was no point lying.

"-Nothing… it's… I have lots on my mind that's all."

"I thought we sorted everything in your mind."

Natsu grunted and chewed on his food. He took a seat next to his partner and sensed the light nervousness he caused the other by being close.

"Did I do something?"

The boy grunted again, but not so intense and avoided Gray's gaze.

"You? You didn't do anything. Nothing at all. Just **nothing**." Natsu ate with an enormous appetite, "So don't worry about it."

"Come on. What's this-?" His phone vibrated, "-It's mom. Hey Ur."

 _"Don't 'Hey Ur' me! There's so much that I wanna hear and this isn't one of them."_

Gray flopped down on one sofa, chuckling, "I'm sure."

 _"I know I'd get this answer, that's why I left you the first week. Sooooo…"_

"Sooooo? What are you trying to reach you evil woman?"

 _"You kidding me?"_

"No, I don't know."

 _"Like, how's your boyfriend taking in the new place? Please tell me he's your boyfriend now… please."_

Gray shook his head with a smile, "He is, no doubt. He's cool with it yeah, I think."

 _"Oh that's a relief! How was his reaction? Tell me in detail."_

Natsu smiled as he listened to Gray explaining to Ur their first day in his apartment.

 _"And, and-" She snickered, "-the baby making between men, how is that hotness going?"_

"!" Gray froze, choking on his Oreos, and thankfully, Natsu was in the bathroom, "UR!"

 _"Whaaaat? Tell me! I'm so interested you have no idea! Like I tried imagining you both doing it, and shiiiiittt, I have to hear about it you know!"_

He heard two squeals behind along with his mom's.

"Wait a minute... WHAT? Mom, what the fuck? Who's fucking listening to this?"

 _"Answer my question first!"_

"Am I on fucking speaker?!"

 _"ANSWER!"_

"Yeah right."

 _He went deaf listening to her laugh, "The girls are in town, and we all wanted to visit you guys, but weren't sure if we're interrupting anything you knowwww-"_

"-I don't fucking know what you're talking about. Erza and Lucy?"

 _"Yup."_

"You should come. It's silly that you're asking me for permission."

 _"Wait… I don't like the sound of that…"_

"Sound of what?"

He heard a big sigh, _"Ok. You didn't have sex."_

"…"

 _"Oh for god's sake! I'm fucking coming over tonight to strangle you in person and not over the fucking phone!"_

Gray flinched when she slammed the phone shut.

* * *

Natsu forced Gray to clean up the house like a boss whilst he deals with the arrangement of food, drinks, and other snacks. The boy was determined to thank Ur for arranging his room. Faking excruciating injury pain and arm pain and not-enough-sleep pain didn't do him good.

The three guests arrived. First of all, Gray got hit by a major designer perfume wave. Lilacs, lavender, jasmine, etc. Women, ugh.

It's not like he didn't have his own signature Hugo Boss perfume on, but he didn't _overdo_ it.

His dear ol'mother shoved a box in his chest, and he had no choice but to accept. When he asked her what the hell was in it, she answered with this:

"Bed sheets. Normally, normal COUPLE will want a lot more of this shit in their bedrooms."

Gray semi-panicked. Natsu was talking to the girls and didn't hear what they were saying.

"Come with me you old graaah!" He wasn't going to be nice, he just wasn't, "God!"

"Goodness, look who's upset?!" She yelled as he dragged her to his room. "Tell me what's happening with you, ok?"

"I—you woman-" He rubbed his forehead, "-Honestly, I was planning to tell you, but now I just know I'm only gonna be criticized or made fun of!"

Her eyes were big and devilish, "Don't tell me you were thinking of 'oh-if-I-had-a-dad-shit' again. Have I not proven to be your best friend when you needed it?"

Gray sat on the bed and sighed, showing defeat. He sniffled and rubbed his nose before he shrugs, "Sorry."

"Ok, now… what's going on?" She sat opposite of him, "Does he have problems or are you guys not compatible?"

Not compatible? This is the latest joke. Their bodies were screaming for each other in his small apartment. He could barely keep his hands off of Natsu.

Gray tsk-ed, and waved his hand around trying to explain, "… I have this injury, it hurts my arm, and—I don't know what'd happen if—things-you know, and I don't want him to feel like an object or something. I rushed him into living with me, and I—I don't know anymore. Also… It's my first time with a guy, so I'm not confident… I mean, what if his earlier boyfriend was better than me? I don't want to be compared."

"Interesting… Are you impotent?"

Gray glared hard, "See what I mean?"

"Ok listen up." She threw a shirt at his chest, jerking him to the back two inches, "One, you don't need to be confident in anything because it won't be perfect, but as long as you have manly instincts, no probs! You can do it!"

His mom was lecturing him like it was about eating carrots or cooking spaghetti with meatballs… he wasn't sure they were on the same page that has the title 'BABY MAKING'.

"Two, stop BULLSHITTING. I've just heard a ton of useless excuses. These things don't even cross his mind, you know why? I'll tell you why! Wait-no-don't talk. STOP. Think you idiot, think! If he wasn't crazy about you, he wouldn't have ever accepted moving in with you! Natsu's not the kind of guy who puts himself in any situation unless he's a hundred MILLION percent willing."

"Mom…" He sighed, "We lived together before… this is… not new, okay. We're guys. Guys can live together all the time, friends or lovers."

"I'll kick your ass. Shut up."

His figure was too darn small in front of her deep draconic criticizing orbs.

"You think he accepted living with you because you're friends? You better—BETTER—Think deeeeeep before you answer that."

Nope. Natsu didn't agree to live with him because they were friends. In fact, when they first entered this apartment, Natsu had clarified that matter.

His silence stretched, and he didn't need to answer his mother's question.

"See? Idiot. You've a tendency to worry and burden yourself with unnecessary shit! Think about the last three years ok? You're partially guilty of your own pain. I thought you'd straighten your ways and grow out of this shit, but you just can't have enough, can you?"

"-I mean-"

She glared.

"-Ok…"

"I want you to be the selfish one. So selfish that Natsu comes and complains to me! Because right now my dear son, you appear not to give a shit about it! Do you not give a shit? That's a rhetorical question, shut up. Ok, no. You're extremely invested in this relationship, you give a shit, but he doesn't even know, cause guess what? You don't freaking talk!"

She was so right that he didn't want to listen anymore.

 _'I'm being roasted, shit.'_

"I don't know what more can I say to make you understand. Is Natsu not attractive enough for the likes of you?"

"Are you crazy?" Gray said without thinking, "He's amazing, and he makes me feel happy even you know… without that… and… he is… I'm barely able to keep my hands off."

"Guys!"

They both flinched, then relaxed when they saw Lucy coming in.

"What are you doing? We're gonna eat without you."

Ur stood with a sneer at Gray.

"I was giving him the talk."

"Woooooo, that's creepy." Lucy criticized Gray with her big honey ironic stare, "You're unbelievable, dude. He texted your mom asking her for your favorite recipe, and you're like an unmoving sack of potatoes."

He wanted to hurt her. Physically hurt her.

"I don't wanna hear anything from you, and it's none of your business."

"HUH. Dude, Natsu's so hot, if you don't claim him, I will. He loves me, and if I try hard enough, I can pull the rug from under your feet. So keep up the good work and remain a frozen sack of patatas."

She high-fived his mom before they both cackled evilly and left him in the room.

Gray was dumbfounded and extremely blackmailed.

 _'Women are the source of evil in this world, hands down.'_

When he returned to the living room, he found out that the two girls next door were brought into their house. Natsu was telling Erza about what the girl did on their first day, and they chatted, exhausting the subject of good deeds around the globe.

"Heavens! This meat oh my god! Who cooked this?" Lucy asked. Her hand was on her chewing mouth, and her eyes were wide, a light blush on her cheeks.

 _'She's cute... it's not only the tits after all…'_

"That's right. I love the meat, and the potatoes." Kagura's body shivered from the goodness.

"Gray did." Natsu smiled, "He's great. He's so good, and the way he deals with potatoes is just mind-blowing."

Lucy's chortle came out, and he kicked her foot from underneath the table, earning loud dumb giggles from her and Ur.

Natsu questioned Gray with a stare and one raised eye-brow.

"Wooow Gray," Lucy bit her lips to conceal a laugh, "You're SO natural when it comes to potatoes. What's your-Ahem—what's your secret?"

Ur pretended to be ignorant, boiling his guts.

"Ahem. Excuse me guys…" Gray stood and grabbed Lucy's shoulder, "You! Come with me!"

"Heyyyyy!" Lucy squealed, laughed and let Gray drag her all the way to his bedroom.

The blonde's back and his arms were glued to the wall of his bedroom, he towered over her, his lowered eyebrows were furrowed, lips were thin, raised, and pushed out, and hot breath came out of his nostrils.

"What's with you? Can't take a joke?" She crossed her arms challengingly in the compact space between her boobs and his chest.

"Don't… poke your nose in my sensitive business, are we clear?"

She chuckled, "What now-"

"Are we clear? Or do you want me to rape you right here to prove my masculinity? I could arrange that."

"HoHoHo, is this all what this is about?" Her hands were in her waist, "You could prove your musicality with me, but not him?"

Gray gritted his teeth threatened her with a full fist then punched the wall, "Look-"

"-No. You look. I'm actually giving you advice here. Man up. When I heard that you guys were in virtual relationship for like ages, and you wouldn't even say it, I felt pain. Imagine him. And now this? You're a total mess. Don't go nuts on me! Go nuts on yourself!" Her smile was gone, sadness dimming her honey eyes.

Gray studied her facial expressions for a long while before he snorts, "You like him for real?"

"Why would I lie?" Her words were firm, "Admitting it is the first step to move on or move forward. I'm not a fool like you…"

"I'm not handing him over to you. So, move on."

"We'll see about that." She smiled, "You're not bad yourself. Very charming."

"Too bad I'm taken. I like your boobs too."

Someone cleared their throat. They both looked at the door, seeing Natsu's face flushed and stunned at their physical proximity.

"Guys… the food is gonna get cold, so…"

They chuckled nervously.

"Just a minute and I'll be finished with this woman." Gray tried to smile.

Natsu wanted to say something, but returned to the living room with no further comments.

"Anyhow, stay out of my way tonight ok?!" Gray shouted in a small voice.

"Whatever, let's go. You're pathetic."

* * *

Lucy and Gray were pretty civil the rest of the evening.

Dinner was a huge hit and their neighbors were lucky enough to join them (they said it). He tidied the living room, while Natsu rolled his sleeves and filled as many dishes as he can into the dishwasher.

His housemate didn't make any sounds since the women herd spared them and left. Silence condensed in the air, and his guts flipped. He scratched the back of his neck as he tried to break the stillness. Natsu made it more difficult to achieve when he focused on dishes and washing detergents.

 _'Fuck, he's so quiet…_ _why's he so quiet?'_

Natsu washed the remaining dishes. Gray helped him tidy up the rest of the kitchen, hoping they would get into a conversation; however, a huge crimson barrier deepened its roots between them for no reason. What made it worse is that Natsu supported its growth. When Natsu was done, he rotated his stiff shoulder around, then slipped out of sight.

He revisited the evening events before and after dinner, but couldn't find this awkwardness trigger. Was Natsu mad or tired? Or was he both? Gray rubbed his hair then continued drying the glasses.

When done, he decided to check on Natsu. His room was dark, the door was half opened. Gray meandered towards the room with noiseless steps and peered inside from the small gap between the door and wall.

His friend relaxed on the yellow-ornamented chaise-lounge. One knee hugged up to his chest, the other extended, and his cheek rested on top of his palm. Hurt engulfed his longing green eyes that stared at the calm street and swaying trees. He resembled a caged bird that longed for freedom, and the mere sight of him unnerved his heart.

Just what happened? Why is he like this? He was laughing and cracking jokes all night, this bipolar dumbass! Well… whatever dumbass he was, he was Gray's dumbass, and Gray will get to the bottom of this.

He entered after he had knocked the room's door thrice, not waiting for permission. Natsu flinched at his knocks, and even more so when Gray lifted his extended leg, sat in front of him, then placed Natsu's leg on his lap, hugging it to his waist.

Natsu's mouth opened to protest, but closed in seconds, as if his voice was stolen.

"Tired?" Gray's lips curved into a slight smile; while his fingers drew diagonal lines on top of Natsu's hip.

Natsu rested his cheek back onto his palm. The sigh that came out, was laced with bitterness.

A nod responded to him.

"So what? You had too much fun, and now what's happening with you?"

Natsu glanced at him for seconds before he gives the streets more attention.

"I'm a human being you know…" Natsu sighed, "I get hungry, I get thirsty, I get gloomy, I get confused, I get tired and fed up too... normal… haha, stop that. It tickles..."

The small snicker eased him up. Gray continued to brush Natsu's hip with his fingers, bringing light shivers out of the boy.

"Bullshit. Both you and I know that." Gray winked, "Or don't you agree?"

Natsu reddened, "Shut up. I hate you."

"I bet."

"…" Natsu licked his lips and looked outside once more, "That's… yeah, I hate you."

"Wanna sleep?" Gray held a pink strand in his hand and felt the smoothness under his fingers.

"Not really…" Natsu's ears blushed while trying to ignore Gray's touch, "I'm sure you're exhausted cause you didn't sleep well last night. Go rest. You gotta take your pain killer before that."

"Wanna play cards?"

"No." His firm tone forced Gray not to make any more suggestions.

"Mmmhmm." Gray grinned, "Don't you want me to carry you to bed? You look like these kids who want sleep so bad, at the same time, they won't move cause they're freaking lazy."

"I've every right to be lazy now. I cooked, cleaned, your mom exhausted me laughing, the neighbors rained me with questions about Africa as if every country in Africa has Zebras, Jesus." Natsu snorted, "So yeah, I'd make you carry me, but you have way too many physical disabilities for that kinda shit."

"Horseshit. I feel fine."

"Reeeeeally?" Natsu smirked, "Who was squirming in the bathroom day before yesterday?"

"Shut up. I hate you."

"I bet." He laughed the comment off, but seriousness lingered on Natsu's face.

OK. Enough beating around the bush.

"I know you more than anyone. Something's bothering you. Just say it."

Natsu's leg stiffened at his statement. The hurt in his face turned to a small glare, and for no reason, guilt settled in Gray's stomach.

He pulled his leg away from Gray lap and adjusted himself on the chair.

"You're playing me. Gray, you're playing me and I don't know why! I-I don't even wanna know why, okay? Please, you need to go."

Excuse me?

Where did that come from? The harshness of Natsu's accusation wasn't expected, and to top it all off, Natsu believed in it. He was convinced he was right, and fuck, if he didn't clear this one up, it might leave severe damage.

"Nat-" His palm reached to caress Natsu's cheek, but was slapped away, unwelcomed.

"Leave." Natsu's eyes watered, and his being adjusted to reject Gray in every way. His fists were balled, his toes were curled—Natsu acted like a tiger who hissed, waiting to leap and attack at the right moment. Gray wasn't one to go along with orders, but he didn't want to upset Natsu more.

"Natsu. I won't push you further, but tomorrow, we're gonna talk nice and long about this."

"Yeah right."

"What's that?"

"Goodnight."

He sighed and stood up. He won't sleep peacefully tonight, for sure.

He held Natsu's chin and covered his mouth with his own. Then the tiger jumped, his tears fell, shocked and angered. He jabbed Gray's chest, and retreated, gritting his teeth.

"Don't touch me!"

Gray wasn't only confused, but also frustration burned his blood.

"What's with you?!"

"I told you! Leave now!"

Gray's jaw clenched, his calm blue orbs turned to white icy ones. In a flash, he forced Natsu back on the chair, fingers digging deep in his arms. He pressed his mouth harder against Natsu's warm protesting one, tasting rejection in it. When Natsu almost bit his lips, Gray pulled away and kissed his forehead.

"Goodnight…"

Natsu wiped his mouth, hurt, confused, and a ferocious teary glare bit Gray's soul.

He threw himself on his own bed. At that point Gray made a promise to himself to make Natsu fully his. His heart couldn't take the thought of Natsu not existing in his life AGAIN because of a misunderstanding-AGAIN.

* * *

Under the revealing moonlight, Natsu's body gave in on the floor, every muscle that was charged with anger and defensiveness, eased up. His eyes surrendered to the crowd of tears blinding it. The sleeves of his shirt dampened as he kept wiping his face.

 _'You… you idiot… idiot, idiot, idiot! Do you even know how much I love you? You don't! You never did, and you won't!'_

"Idiot… I can't breathe…"

His lungs constricted with the sobs he killed. He slammed his fists on the floor, as if he did that he will stop crying, but he couldn't. Why the hell was loving Gray so damn hurtful?! Always, always, always!

"Gray…"

He wanted to sleep next to him. He wanted to hug him, kiss him, be embraced by him more than anything. He wanted him for himself, and he didn't want others to touch him… yet tonight he… he…

Natsu's figure collapsed on the bed. His knees touched his chest, his eyes shut, while pearl like drops never stopped wetting his pillow.

 _'I wish I never loved you…'_

* * *

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 **Next Chapter Release:** In a week, more or less, subject to change.

 **Special thanks to:** JO, (He does hehe. More than you can imagine, you'll see more of it next chapter.), Kori No Koibito (I know! Gray's his baby after all. If he doesn't make it for Gray, who will he make it for?!), deboome, (More of those chapters coming on the way. Though not a lot since we're almost done hehe.)

Thank you **ALL** for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that. AND stay safe, stay home.

Alright, till next time!

Looooooove,

Flame-Belt


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